John 1:36-39 And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, What do you seek? They said to Him, Rabbi (which is called, being translated, Teacher), where do you live? He says to them, Come and see. They came and saw where He lived, and stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
As Yeshua (Jesus) was about to begin his ministry, many were listening intently to John the Baptist as He declared, “Behold the Lamb of God!” [John 1:36]. Some of those listening to John were intrigued with the man he was pointing to, and they followed Yeshua. So He turned and questioned them, “What do you seek?”
“What do you seek?” Sounds like such a simple question…but isn’t it actually the most significant question of our lives? What are we truly seeking? Their response, “Where do you live?” says, “We want to know more about you now…”
I love Yeshua’s response … “Come and see.” It was an invitation into an intriguing relationship and what a relationship it would be! These young men were about to become disciples of the Son of God. Could they have had any idea what that would mean? The small step of faith to follow him, discover his whereabouts, without knowing anything of what it would involve, the small step of faith…..but they were seeking Him.
Passover has ended, and we who have found our “Passover Lamb”, recognizing Yeshua, the Lamb of God, are we much different from the disciples who curiously followed Him, not having a clue what awaited them when He said, “Come and see!”
This narrative of the disciples is their great adventure into knowing and serving the God of creation. Something about Him, and the testimony of the Baptist, drew them forward in small irrevocable steps of faith and decision. Some of us sit on the fence until we have more proof or assurance, and the decisive question, “What do you seek?” sticks in our throat. Is it the fear of what it might mean to follow Him? If so, faith must be the answer. Following Yeshua is a great adventure precisely because we cannot know what it will involve. His disciples were invited to see “where He lived” and we are too. Now that we’ve been delivered from Egypt and passed through the water, not only can we see where He lives…… we can live there with Him! So let’s continue the adventure.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Over the years I’ve often gotten emails asking “When do you think revival will come?” Well…. first, what is “revival”, exactly? One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions is “a renewed attention to or interest in something”.
Approaching a new year always seems to carry a sense of adventure and expectation, although that attitude is not normally mixed with the level of trepidation we might be feeling just now. Moses’ successor Joshua, one of two faithful spies, seems to have embodied this sense of courageous expectation much of his life, but even he needed an extra dose of Divine encouragement as the Lord commanded him to cross the Jordan and take possession of the promised Land.
As we approach the New Year, we’re back to making New Year’s resolutions … but this year is a bit different, since it’s not only a New Year but a New Decade! During the past ten years we’ve seen such radical changes in our society; the definition of marriage, millennia-old norms of gender identity, bath and locker-room privacy, have all been affected by court decisions as a sea change in social mores has swept through the western world. People of Biblical faith are witnessing the fulfillment of Isaiah’s warning, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” [Isaiah 5:20]
There were thousands of people bundled up in freezing New York weather to witness a few short seconds during which a descending ball of light announces the arrival of a New Year — 2023. These hardy people endured the freezing air to mark the passage of time, but even more, because they were anticipating a “new beginning!” Saying goodbye to a tumultuous 2023, they were looking forward to making a fresh start in 2024!
Yeshua (Jesus) gave a remarkable parenthetic instruction in the middle of His Olivet discourse on the time of His coming and the end of the age. While it is unlikely that He himself said this, He certainly inspired Matthew to insert, “..let the reader understand”, concerning this critical event prophesied by Daniel, the Abomination of Desolation. His exhortation intended us (the readers of Matthew’s gospel) to learn what this means.
When I teach about “understanding the will of God,” I’d like to talk about a story that is told in all the synoptic gospels, except that Luke’s account gives a significant nuance. (Many skeptical Bible “critics” point out differences in the gospels to argue that they can’t be reliable — yet it’s actually the differences that support the validity of these accounts because they reveal that the events recorded were simply experienced and told from slightly different viewpoints, a very common circumstance when people are telling a story.)
Charles Swindoll wrote about these men who bring in animals from Africa for American zoos. They say that one of the hardest animals to catch there is the ringtailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years.