An empty shell on the beach, many stones line the sands and the clouds drift by in the background.

I was thinking of what an emptiness the apostles might have been feeling after Jesus had rose from the dead leaving an empty tomb. But Jesus didn’t leave them for long as he came back and taught them for many days. His ascension was the last time they saw his physical body.

Acts 1:6-11

The Ascension of Jesus

6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

They were staring up into heaven. After the sight of Jesus disappearing, they were once again to wait. But staring, and waiting is not what they needed to do. The angels reminded them to move on. Who could have blamed them, but they needed the push to move on to the next stage. A verbal reminder to get going.

There are people in my life that sometimes give me a verbal reminder, a gentle push to stop staring at the task and to go on to do it. To be brave.

Dear Lord, I pray that we may start the tasks ahead, and that I thank you Lord for all our friends who help us to move on to the next stage. I pray that we will continue to have faith with perseverance and that all my work is offered up to you for the glory of God.

Amen