Jesus is always at hand, within reach and closer than a breath to us. Jesus said in Matthew 28: 20, I am with you always, to the end of the age. The thought that Jesus has passed us by is misconceived. It is often predicated on our own minds, lack of scriptural knowledge, our wobbly faith or disbelief. Whenever answers from God delay by our own reckoning, we complain that Jesus has passed us by.
Oftentimes, we forget that God works in his own time and season and that he is not subject to our rules. We also forget that God’s ways and thoughts are different from, and higher than ours. Isaiah 55: 8 says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. Our complaints are founded on our immediate perceived needs but God considers our true needs and interests.
There are several reasons why Jesus will not pass us by. We have found our convictions on biblical facts which we are guided by the Holy Spirit to share with everyone as follows:
The nature of Jesus’ mission on earth
Jesus said in John 10: 10, I came that they (mankind) may have life, and have it abundantly. If Christ came to save us hence his name Christ meaning savior, he will not pass us by when we call on him. Luke 19: 10 says for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus also said in Matthew 9: 13 for I have come not to call the righteous but sinners. He will not pass us by when we call on him because of the nature of his mission of salvation and restoration. Every need gives us the opportunity to deepen our relationship with Jesus and he will never pass us by when we acknowledge him in truth.
We are grafted in him as one body
Paul said in Romans 11: 24, for we have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree. In confirmation of our inseparable union with Christ Jesus, Jesus said in John 15: 5, I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
Since we can do nothing without him, Jesus said in 2 Corinthians 12: 9, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. We are inseparable from Jesus because we have been grafted in him as one body. We are a natural part of him by virtue of having been grafted in him. Having been grafted in him, he is not distant from us but part of us. Jesus cannot and will not pass himself by.
Jesus has unrestrained love for us
Jesus assured us in Revelation 3: 20, I am standing at the door, knocking, if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. A person who is at the door knocking always cannot be said to pass us by. A person who also always is seeking an opportunity to dine with us cannot pass us by or distant himself from us. Jesus confirmed this fact in the parable of the lost sheep as recorded in Matthew 18: 12; Luke 15: 4.
Jesus also gave another parable to illustrate his love for us in the parable of the lost silver coin in Luke 15: 8-9. If Jesus passes us by, it would render his love for us nugatory. Romans 5: 8 says but God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5: 10, Christ died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live with him. Jesus always looks for us because he considers us valuable to him.
God has long promised to hear us
Paul said in Romans 10: 13, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Aside being God’s message through Paul, it was also based on Paul’s rich relationship with Christ Jesus, who saves not only our souls but everything negative about our lives. This is in harmony, it is recorded in Psalms 55: 22, cast your burden upon the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. God is ever near to us than we can ever imagine. Hebrews 10: 23 says for he who has promised is faithful.
If God will pass us by, he would not have given us promises. Romans 8: 34 says Christ Jesus indeed intercedes for us. As an intercessor or an advocate, he maintains a close relationship with us in order to be an effective intercessor or advocate. Jesus is the best intercessor for us because he is always knowledgeable about our circumstances. He has not said he will pass us by but will always be with us.
God has always been truthful to his word
Numbers 3: 19 says God is not a human being, that he should lie or a mortal, that he should change his mind. He has promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? What then has the faithful God said or promised? God said in Jeremiah 29: 12-13,… when you search for me, you will find me. In truth, David searched for God and wrote when he found him in Psalms 17: 6; 55: 16, I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God, incline your ear to me, hear my words.
God does not neglect us. The apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 5: 7 cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. God continues to hear all who call upon him through Christ Jesus genuinely. Jesus is waiting for our call on him to answer. He knows us and loves us more than we can ever imagine. Jesus is interested in our welfare. He weeps when we assume self-sufficiency because it is a deception. He says we make him a liar when we say we have no sin, 1 John 1: 10. Jesus is passing our way, join us to call him for his intervention in our lives in prayer with a clean heart and he will answer.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you that you will never pass us by but will always be with us because it is not your will that any of us should perish but have eternal life in you. Do not pass us by because it is on you that we feed and live as we are grafted in you and become one body with you. Save our souls from withering away as your branches and help us to bear fruits worthy of your nourishment in the blood. We pray in your holy name, Amen!!
