Jesus, the Glorious One, has been anointed and is even now at the right hand of God. And yet that same one knows what it means to be tempted in every way, just as you are. He is high above, and at the same time, infinitely down to earth. This is who you have in Jesus.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a French writer and aviator whose best-known work was the book called The Little Prince. He once wrote this: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the tasks, and give orders, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” He was pointing to the difference between tasks and vision. In building a ship, all the things Saint-Exupery mentioned must be done – you have to gather wood and divide tasks and give orders and a host of other things. But the thing that keeps those tasks going with energy and enthusiasm is not the task itself, but the grand vision behind it.

That’s true about something like building a ship, but it’s also true in the Christian life. That is, there are lots of things to be done as a Christian. Lots of growth to happen, lots of small acts of obedience, and lots of small choices to say no to sin. But behind all those tasks is the grand vision. That’s the “thing” behind all the other “things.” In fact, you could go so far as to say ultimately, what we need more than anything else is a bigger, clearer, and more steadfast vision of Jesus. That’s what we find in Colossians 1:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Col. 1:15-20).

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