John 17:4,6,15 – “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”
This is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in scripture and is very powerful in scope. Jesus prays to the Father concerning His work and His return to receive the glory He once had before the world began. He prays for His disciples that they would be preserved in the world and would one day join Him in heaven. He then prays for all who would come to believe the message preached about Him.
The three scriptures from today’s reading highlighted above have tremendous insight for you and me today. Verse 4 tells us how to glorify God. The way we do that is by finishing the work He has given us to do. Have you ever seen a construction project halted in midstream? The building sits idle, incomplete without any work being done to it for months. It brings disgrace on the parties involved and suggests something went wrong somewhere. Uncompleted projects are not flattering to anyone. You and I must finish what we’re so supposed to finish. There is a work He has given us to do. Do we know what this is and are going about finishing it?
Verse 6 tells us that we should manifest His name or “reveal Him” to those around us. People should know more about Him simply from being around us. Let’s reveal Him today to those who need to know Him.
Because of verses 4 and 6, verse 15 makes sense. We are to be in this world to finish what He’s given us to do and to reveal Him to the world. We are here for that purpose and Jesus recognized the need for us to be in the world. His prayer for us is that we would be preserved and protected from the evil one who would love nothing more than to disrupt the work God is trying to do through us. Be determined my friend that you are going to finish what you’ve started and that you are not going to let any opposition hinder your progress.