Suppose I told you that next Tuesday you were going to die a fiery death in a collision on the interstate highway? Assuming that my information is correct, what would you do? How would you live between now and then? Would you be filled with fear? Would you make sure that you were as far away from the interstate as possible next Tuesday or would you go straight ahead toward it?

Let me tell you what Jesus did. He clearly knew what lay in front of him. He knew he was destined to die and exactly when, where and how it would happen. He knew how horrible it would be. He could have changed his mind and escaped, but instead, he went straight to Jerusalem. He faced difficulty with courage.

Sin is like a powerful computer virus that spreads through your hard drive and destroys your files. Jesus knew that sin was going to be downloaded on him and he would die. But he also knew that the awesome power of God could restore what had been destroyed and bring him back to life. The resurrection of Jesus was the result of God’s direct intervention to overrule and defeat death once and for all.

As followers of Jesus we, too, can be courageous when we are facing hard decisions, criticism, opposition, danger and suffering. Not because we are stronger than others, but because we have God. God is the source of our strength and, when we are trusting in him, we can face difficulty with courage.