But what God predicted through the mouth of all the prophets—that His Messiah would suffer—He has fulfilled in this way.
Acts 3:18 (HCSB)
Where we begin a journey is often just as important as where we end up. In fact, often where we begin determines where we end up. What tools and equipment we have at the start–the right clothes, the right gear, the right maps–ensure either success or failure for a journey. Starting a journey from England to India without a passport is not the best of plans; nor is setting off from your house to church in the car if you have no petrol in the tank. Many of us today are reliant upon a GPS unit telling us where to turn and what is happening next so we don’t get lost on our journeys. This is true when we pick up the Bible—the word of God. We must prepare ourselves not just with prayer but with godly purpose.
Peter tells those around him that all the prophets predicted that the Messiah—Jesus—would suffer and die for our salvation. So when we read the prophets, whether it is Jonah or Micah, Obadiah or Isaiah, we must bear this in mind. We have been told what the house at the end of our journey looks like: it looks like Jesus greeting us with open and loving arms, stood outside his Father’s house. Therefore when we travel through a book of the Bible, we keep our eyes peeled, scanning left and right, seeking for Jesus standing there welcoming us in with the truth of God. If we don’t know what—or rather who—we are looking for in the Bible, we will never find the joy, hope, strength, and peace that is promised to those who humbly and prayerfully read the Scriptures.
