– Secret Place Insights –
Dear One, while reading a familiar passage in John 1:15-42, I experienced anew the story of Andrew meeting Jesus for the very first time. The day, Andrew, and his friend, were told by John the Baptist that the man walking away was the Lamb of God, Andrew and his friend immediately followed Him. Jesus turned and invited them to come with Him to the place where He was staying. After having spent the day with Jesus, according to verse 41, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon (Peter) and tell him, “We have found the Messiah.” And he brought him (Simon) to Jesus.” NIV
Andrew’s perceived excitement caused me to stop reading and ponder his first day with Jesus. What must have it been like to have had heard all of his life that there was a Messiah coming, the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation as prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, and find himself spending the day with Him, the Messiah!
Andrew, a fisherman, was a disciple (student), of John the Baptist. They were likely outside of town in the wilderness, for that is where John resided. Imagine hearing that the man that you are looking at, that your eyes are resting upon, the One who is passing by at this very moment is the Son of God.
How could Andrew contain the swell of excitement? Perhaps he didn’t. It had to have been electrifying. Whatever he was doing, he dropped, for he and his friend followed Jesus. Were their legs like overcooked spaghetti? Did they have to keep trying to catch their breath? Did they look back and forth from Jesus to each other…wondering ‘can this really be happening?’ For them, life had changed, and changed forever.
I sat thinking, and so it is for us…when we make the decision to truly follow Jesus. Not the modern day version of Jesus that the Me-First, Jesus-when-it-is-Convenient, makeup these days, the Jesus as recorded in Scripture.
Unlike Andrew, today’s Christ followers are anxiously awaiting the coming rapture, the anti-Christ years, and the triumphant return of Christ. We think on these things, but Andrew and others, actually lived during two of the major steps in God’s plan. They walked with Christ during His teachings, and talked with Jesus after his resurrection, and watched Him as He ascended into heaven. No wonder that Andrew, and others, willingly died for the spreading of God’s Truth.
Oh, those first days of new beginnings with Christ must have been the ultimate in excitement. But so too it can be for us, and is for many. For Christ, after His ascension, gifted all believers with the filling of the Holy Spirit. Now we can read the Bible with the fellowship and mentorship of the Indwelling Holy Spirit. And it is through such a relationship that we can within our home, or out in the world, serve God. No, not with our eyes looking directly at Jesus as Andrew first did, but with His Holy Spirit actually within us…guiding us…that is, of course, if we have an ear to listen, and a desire to follow.
“Thank you God, thank you Jesus, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit which caused Scripture to come alive as we followed Andrew chasing after Jesus.” Amen.
“And He (Jesus) said to them, “Follow Me,
and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19 NASB
Blessings for another week,
Susanne
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