Come and See

Meditations for Ragamuffins

August 31, 2023

Come and See 

“Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them. They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come and see,” he said.”

John 1:38-39a 

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the men who spent the afternoon with Jesus.  Andrew then went to his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:40). John the Baptist had already pointed out Jesus to Andrew, as the Lamb of God, but something happened to Andrew that afternoon with Jesus that forever changed him. I have long been intrigued by the simple dialog of this passage: “Where are you staying? “Come and see.”

I can get so comfortable in my routines of life that I can become oblivious to what is happening around me. I think that is typical of our human experience of life, but it was not typical for Jesus’ earthly experience. Every day his senses were fully aware of his surroundings and of those around him. Every day he was fully aware of his Father’s love for him. Every day he was fully engaged in his Messianic mission. God wants us to have life in Christ. The Holy Spirit is fully engaged in His ministry of forming Christ within us, to the end that every day our senses will be fully aware of our surroundings. Every day we will be fully aware of Abba’s love for us, and every day we will be fully engaged in the ministry God has assigned to us. How?

By having our own simple dialog with Jesus: “Where are you staying? “Come and see.” The key is to stay. I am finding that there is a directly proportional relationship between the quantity and quality of time I spend with Jesus and the acuteness of my awareness of my environment.

My Takeaway: One thing I greatly regret about years of pastoral ministry was the absence of periodic sabbaticals of extended time alone to be with Jesus. Even so, my hearts longs for more of Jesus, and I trust the Holy Spirit will help me to press on so “that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12b NASB).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.