Everyday Can Be An Epiphany

Monday, January 06, 2014         Everyday Can Be An Epiphany

John  5: 39-47

Jesus was critical of the religious leaders: “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life” (John 5:39). Is that really bad? Yes, for two reasons. First, contrast their attitude with that of Simeon: “He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel” (Luke 2:25). The religious leaders, unlike Simeon, were looking for their own, personal eternal life, without regard for their neighbor.

Secondly, unlike Simeon, they were not “eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel” The religious leaders were searching the Scriptures for information that would give them eternal life. Jesus said, “the Scriptures point to me!” (John 5:39b). Christ Jesus is revealed throughout the Bible, and our primary reason for reading the Bible is to encounter the revelations of Christ. Whenever you attend church meetings, whether it is a Bible Study or administrative meeting, if you haven’t heard the name of Jesus lifted up in thirty minutes, interrupt the meeting and ask, “If we aren’t here to talk about Jesus, why are we here?” The Christian faith is about a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, and if we aren’t talking to and about Jesus we’re just wasting time.

God’s Word points to Jesus and God has a very specific purpose for his Word: “I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (Isaiah 55:11).The religious people Jesus talked to only valued the scriptures as information, and missed the ‘fruit’ part of Isaiah’s proclamation. If we open our hearts to be inspired by God’s Word, the Word will then be transformed through our words, actions and good deeds to produce fruit in God’s Kingdom.

January 6 is the Day of Epiphany on the Christian calendar. The word epiphany means a manifestation, and the season of Epiphany reflects on how Jesus was revealed as the Son of God. Traditionally, the first two revelations of Jesus as the Son of God are the visit to Jesus by the Three Wise Men and the baptism of Jesus. However, every time we read the Scriptures can be a day of epiphany for us. As Christ is revealed to us in the Word God, the Scriptures are transformed by the Holy Spirit from information to inspiration and then become incarnational in our life; the life in Christ becomes our way of life!

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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.