Friday 10 Aug 2018

August 10: John 1:37-42

Key Verse: John 1:38
Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

Devotion:
What would you answer if Jesus asked you “What do you seek”? Would your answer be like the two disciples or would you ask Him something about your life? I think the first thing that may well pop into our heads is something to do with ourselves, some trouble we face or some illness He could heal… but what came into the disciples head first is missed by so many because they answered with a single word that means so much: “Rabbi” (or as is translated, Teacher).

Our lives are often based on the selfishness of our own hearts. We seek to find things that will in some manner fulfil our desires. We look for ways in which we can better ourselves. We look for self-profit! What the disciples realised was the same as Solomon realised – God can teach us so much that if He should ask us to name anything it should be that He teach us His ways.

We fall so short when it comes to doing God’s will in our lives because of our lack of wisdom as well as our sin natures. The more we know about God’s ways, the more we will be able to change our own ways to forget about our old ways and move forward to Christ’s new ways. The more we have knowledge about God, the more we can live our lives the way we should. If we want to avoid the pitfalls in life then we must know the way forward, the safe way, the best way. It is no good testing the way forward in every possible direction before taking a step forward because, like going through a maze, we may well choose the wrong ways more times that the right ways. Let’s take a mine field for instance. Would you use the “one foot forward” test to try and find a way through a mine field or would you rather someone show you the safe way forward?

Whether we believe it or not, we do not have the knowledge or wisdom to take on life. We need His guidance and we need His ways. We have so much to learn and we have so many temptations which will lead us astray. What better way than to have a personal teacher who is willing and able to lead us through our own personal mine fields?

Points to Ponder:
Do you just take life as it goes without asking for help?

Are you ready to trust Christ to lead you forward?