At the start of a new academic year, it can be a rush to start the new thing and move on. As we begin with new classes, new routines, maybe even a new school, let us also take time to reflect on the call of Jesus that we read in John 3, “Be born again.”
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”
You may be looking forward to the opportunity to begin again. You may, like many of us, be feeling a sense of oppression that comes from the news and the projections of difficult economic times ahead. When we consider the words of Jesus, we must remember the situation that he and his disciples found themselves in. They could sympathise as to what it felt like to live under oppression. The rule of Rome allowed them some level of freedom, but it was far from ‘Life in all its fullness’.
It is our privilege as a school to sponsor five children in Rwanda. When we read the job descriptions of the families we support, they are all farmers, who know about farming. In John 10, we read of Jesus the 'Good Shepherd'. Many who heard Jesus speak would know about shepherding. They would understand the difference between a thief, a hired hand and a good shepherd.
“Therefore, Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.”
At the start of this term, let us take time to reflect on whether or not the voice of God is the voice we are listening to and the voice that is guiding us. The voice of God calls us away from the oppression that leads to death, to ‘Life in all its fullness’.
