Words to Remember

I held the paper in my hand, reading the message in surprise. A telegram! I

didn’t know anybody who sent (or received) telegrams, yet there I stood

with one of my own.

I’d competed at a local level in a national scholarship program and then

advanced to the state event. Participating at the state competition

involved traveling several hours away from home and staying with a host

family for a week. On the final evening of the contest, the telegram had

been delivered to me. It came from Alice, a friend of my grandmother. She

sent a note of support, reminding me that many people back homesome who I

barely knewcheered me on while I attempted to do my bEsther

Although I got several cards in the mail that week, I received only one

telegram, and it’s the only good luck message I remember from that season

many years ago.

The final recorded word that Jesus spoke to His disciples before He

ascended was a message they wouldn’t forget either. The resurrected Jesus

had instructed His disciples to meet Him on a mountain in Galilee, and when

they had gathered there, He gave them what we often call the Great

Commission. This included Jesus’s command to share the good news (or the

gospel) with all the world, teaching others to follow and obey Him. And the

Great Commission still applies to Jesus’s followers today. We also

have been commissioned to make disciples wherever we gosharing with others

the hope and purpose we have in Christ through faith. Because He has

forgiven our sins, we get to have a relationship with God, living

transformed lives through the Holy Spirit and looking forward to the day

Jesus will return bodily to earth.

The telegram from Alice boosted my spirits during a challenging week

because it reminded me that I wasn’t alone. The Great Commission also

carries a reminder that God’s people (then and now) need to hear: Christ

has all authority…in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). As He calls us

to live in service to Him, He also promises that He will remain with us,

even to the very end. Allison Wilson Lee

Why do you think Jesus saved the Great Commission for His final talk with

His disciples?

Read Matthew 28:16-20. How might the Great Commission pertain to our

lives today? What difference does it make knowing that Jesus promises to be

with us always?

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations… Matthew 28:19a (CSB)

Read Verses:

Matthew 28:16-Matthew 28:20