John 17:13-21

John 17:13-21
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  I love the way the Bible anticipates  In 1 Peter it talks about how Scripture was written so that people living centuries later would come to faith.  Here, Jesus is praying not just for his current disciples, but also for the disciples who would come years later, hearing about the Truth through the testimony of the current disciples.
  It's incredible to think that Jesus was looking forward to you.  You didn't end up here by random chance, and you haven't heard the Good News of the Gospel by chance -- Jesus was praying that you would hear the Word through the work of his body, the church, and he was praying that you would be kept safe from evil.
  That's an interesting prayer, that we be kept safe.  What does it mean to truly be safe?  We may think it means we are separated from anything that threatens us, but it often doesn't take much for us to not feel safe -- the threats can be imaginary at times, or we can take a distant action and be afraid that it will come near us.  So safety can mean a lot of things, but I think Jesus is praying that, in the midst of whatever might be happening in the world, we are so confidant in the love and presence and power of God that we can be at ease.  Even if the world seems to be closing in, safety is trusting so completely in God to know that we will not be separated from him, not even for an instant.