There is a legend of St Christopher, a strong man who carried the young Christ child on his shoulder across a stream, and as he walked this small child grew so heavy that the bearer almost collapsed into the waters. The moral of the story is that it is hard to be a follower of Christ.


The burden though is not Christ himself, but both our own - and others - attitudes to the Way we choose to follow. Yes there are persecutions in places, and yes there are biases even in Christian lands, but in truth Christ is no burden - although the way he is taught often is.


We can learn through rules, or we can be guided – which of these is more loving? It can be very confining to hold a long list of rules in our mind; it can make us catch our breath before doing anything – analysing every little decision to avoid contravening some doctrine and becoming unclean. Many experience that mental torment, where their thoughts become as a hamster running through a maze, meeting walls and turnings wherever it runs, never seeming to find the way out – and the urge to simply leap out in desperation and forget about being a “good Christian” can be tempting.


Well being a follower of Christ is not so instant, nor dogmatic, nor judgmental nor arduous. Christ’s sacrifice did away with the Law, and the replaced it with holy spirit and kind forgiveness from God – who are mere men to reintroduce Law and doctrine again?!


Instead our Lord urges us to rely on his strength and his forgiveness (2^nd to the Corinthians 12:7-10). Instead of turning to God draped in a list of rules like a contrived priestly garment, we turn to Him with love and trust and a smile – and He guides us as we live and learn Whatever our starting point – tax collector, harlot, murderer in the case of Saul – that is how we are when we first smile to God! We are gently refined thereafter, however long it may take, dropping our burdens along the way with Christ’s kind encouragement, enjoying the freedom that belongs to our Friendship with the Heavens. The value of our friendship is not that we could be “perfect”, but that God’s love has conquered the fear in us borne through our flaws, that He is looking for the beauty in us – the potential which is in us all - that He can be approached by every soul who has a heart to.


The St. Christopher meddalion has been a genuine comfort to many. But perhaps a more appropriate image - one which depicted what being a lover of God really feels like - would be one which is in the mind of all who love Him: of Christ carrying a tired and perhaps even a self-loathing soul, one unable even to walk on their own feet much of the time... but with a face which is growing more serene as they appreciate the safety and Divine purpose in their friendship with the Heavens.

Religion has no role to play in God’s intervention, despite the widespread presumption to the contrary. Only national leaders and heads of state are involved in God’s intervention. The reasons for this are as old as Mankind itself and show themselves in the scriptures.


In all formal dealings, Almighty God Jehovah sent His emissaries not to the priests of the lands, but to the Kings. Pharaoh received a dream from Jehovah and His messenger Joseph relayed the interpretation. Moses likewise took God’s command to the Pharaoh of his day. Similarly Artaxerxes - the King of Babylonia - was approached by Nehemiah in order that Jerusalem should be rebuilt and King Cyrus was guided even though that king did not know Jehovah (Isaiah 45:4). Jonah approach the King of Nineveh for Jehovah’s purposes, and Daniel was sent to relay God’s deciphering of the dream which He had sent to Nebuchadrezzar - the King of the earth - in his day. Even in His dealings with the nations of Israel, Jehovah instructed His priests to speak to the Kings of Israel and Judah - rebellious or not - in order for those leaders to act.


Similarly when our Lord – the only High Priest in worship (Hebrews 7:23-28) - returns, his role will be to act as




In contrast to the continuing stream of secular leaders, there has only ever been one formal worship ordained by Jehovah: that to His people the Hebrews in the Promised Land - and that formal worship has passed away. When Christ came to release worship from the “curse of the Law” (Galatians 3:13) he declared that there was no further need for priests (Matthew 23:8-11). Worship was through kindness of God, not through doctrine.


Despite this, the Christian Way – God’s current stepping-stone on the pathway to Mankind’s recovery – has fractured into thousands of competing sects, far more than those of Islam and Judaism combined. Rather than epitomise “one-true religion” in authority as in the time of the Hebrews, Christianity which began as the pure and kind Way approved of by God has disintegrated into a Babel of bickering voices, as the apostle Paul bitterly lamented:


– the son of God who came to unify men of all kinds (1^st to Timothy 2:4-6) -

A clearer understanding of why world leaders have this prominence rather than religions can be found from the scriptures. When Adam first rebelled against God he had no thought of religion, but of having god-like authority over good and bad. This authority - stolen by Adam - is what has been passed down through the ages. But God would not violate the very thing which was designed to arrange care, so He permitted Adam to take this authority, knowing that some future generation of Mankind would eventually learn that it needed God’s power and wisdom in order to survive. For this reason the apostle Paul reported in his letter to the Romans




Mankind’s arrangement is this: that it has sat in the seat of god-like authority in the earth, and as such it’s rulers have that prominent position in God’s eyes.


Further evidence is that those on the Christian way – and, indeed, so many souls in Judaism and Islam – already love God! They have been praying for God’s kingdom to establish itself on earth for 2,000 years, although some religious leaders have declared outright that God will not intervene to save us from the climate crisis. If authority to call for God’s intervention had truly lain in the hands of ordinary religious souls then their call in this regard would have been heeded long ago and God would have already intervened in the climate crisis.


But it is not so. God is not relying on the call of those who already love Him.


Instead, the great issue of Genesis 3 – the basis of Mankind’s entire history so far - will be resolved by those who have inherited the authority which Adam usurped from God. Just those few hundred secular leaders who represent all the people of the earth, those with sole power and authority over an entire nation and it’s people; those who feel both the allure of that power and the burden of having to deliver what their people need; leaders of every hue of character who may not even believe in God - they alone have God’s ear in the great issue of Genesis 3. They alone can subject under Jehovah the authority over good and bad which Adam stole and which has governed Mankind’s affairs ever since...


...And yet, in a truly perfect and patient and kind justice which only God could devise, the declaration that Mankind’s rulers do indeed need God’s assistance will be left entirely to these very authorities themselves, so that no King nor leader will feel their authority has been taken from them against their will.


Though the call is made to Almighty God, He Himself will not rule over us at our rescue. He has given all authority to His son (Matthew 28:18) – the one whom many on earth do not follow or recognise or even know of. In clarity at that momentous occasion, likely God Himself will declare aloud from the Heavens that He is installing His son in His place as King over those who rule as kings and Lord over those in authority. There will be no confusion, the same God Whom Jews, Muslims, Christians and millions more already love will have given His own assurance that this is the way forward.


At that time – with all souls rescued alive – the persistent and intractable myth that one sect alone spoke with Christ’s authority will have been refuted. The presumption of Godly authority vested in religions – so fear-inspiring and prevalent today – will lose it’s power over people. All the tension that has plagued Christian worship for centuries will dissipate overnight.


Then... the first fruits of the whole rescue: kings and lords will have Divine guidance to help them! Lovers of God - held captive by the thieves and plunderers in religion - will find themselves freed from their stifling doctrines. And the climate crisis which exposed our frailty to us will be calmed just as Jesus showed God’s power to do so on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41). Each of these blessings will come simply through the presence of God’s king, the one – unlike Adam - to whom He really has given authority over the earth.




The authority to call for God’s intervention is not based on faith, or belief, or religion, or love of God, but on who holds the authority which Adam unwisely usurped. Lovers of God have His kind eye always, but this privilege of having God’s ear in this regard lies with the Kings and national rulers alone. In a beautiful way, God is extending the influence in Mankind’s salvation to men regardless of their affinity for Him - a kindness which will show that God is making Himself accessible and one which will gladden the hearts of many ordinary souls who have avoided reaching out to the Almighty thus far.