“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 (NIV)
A while back my sister and I were talking about some uncertainties in our lives that impacted our families. Our confusion was broad-reaching, involving job insecurities, decisions for our kids, and wondering how best to hang on to Jesus as our source of peace.
I heard myself ask, “When you hear the name Jesus, don’t you feel like taking a deep breath of comfort?”
She agreed.
On any given day, I could name a circumstance or three that doesn’t feel comforting. Even if my circumstances are fairly steady, just watching the news about what other people are dealing with can trigger anxiety and fear that similar suffering could happen to me. I may look for comfort in other places: time on the couch with a good book, hot tea, a big piece of lasagna, a warm bath, a day at the beach, a heart-to-heart talk with a good friend. Yes, please, all of them, now, I think.
But Jesus is the truest comfort. I have His spirit within me, the Holy Spirit, who is called Comforter (John 14:26). His comfort is like no other, just as His peace is not of this world (John 14:27). And the above verse sums up why His very name is a comfort to those who believe in Him. Jesus’s comfort can go deeper than any possible trouble on earth. It cannot be replicated by anything the world might offer because there is only one name that saves (Acts 4:12), the name of Jesus, now and forever. Jesus’s name is living and active; it seals with an eternal comfort those who are His.
FAITH STEP: Look up the references in today’s reading, and pick one to memorize.
