Pause for thought
As we pause today, let us join with the praise of all God's people in these words from Psalm 19.
How clearly the sky reveals God's glory! How plainly it shows what he has done!
Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next.
No speech or words are used, no sound is heard;
yet their message goes out to all the world and is heard to the ends of the earth.
(Psalms 19:1-4)
Bible Reading: John 1:35-39
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked,
"What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"
"Come and see,” he replied.
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him.
A Reflection:
When John the Baptist saw Jesus walking by, and recognised him as the coming Messiah, he pointed those with him to Jesus with the words, ‘Behold the Lamb of God’
I came across a prayer for church services that went as follows: ‘Let preachers and worship leaders step out of the limelight into the twilight to fix the spotlight upon you.’ I think this was John’s approach to the transition from his ministry to the ministry of Jesus. He was content to move out of the limelight into the twilight so that the spotlight wall fall on Jesus.
The essence of the Church’s mission is pointing people to Jesus. I wonder how much we give the impression that our faith is about our buildings, our services or a moral code of ‘do’s and don’ts,’ when in fact it is about a relationship with God, made possible through Jesus the Lamb of God.
I wonder whether there are people today, in my life or in your life, who we could point to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who died that they might find life.
When John’s disciples decided to discover more about Jesus for themselves, Jesus’ invitation to them was, ‘Come and see’.
Wherever we are in our Christian journey, there is always more to discover about Jesus and about faith in him. Jesus’ invitation to each of us today remains, ‘Come and see’.
Pray:
Father God, may my words to the searching always be ‘Behold the Lamb of God’ as your invitation to us all remains ‘Come and see’. Amen
Come and see (Behold the author of our salvation)