Prayer
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:18
Lord, open my eyes to see
the wonderful truth in Your Word. Amen.
Reading
A scheduling error on my part means that I jumped the gun on John 2 yesterday and today we take a quick step back into John 1.
When John the Baptist’s two disciples responded to his declaration that Jesus is the Lamb of God, they followed Jesus as He walked along and then asked Him where He was staying. Jesus responded: “Come and see“. That word “Come” is an imperative in the original Greek of v.39. It is a command! “Come and see.”
Then, after going with Jesus, spending time with Him and no doubt discovering wonderful truths about Him, Andrew (one of the original two) fetched his brother Simon and brought him along to see Jesus. (v.42)
Similarly, when Jesus called Philip to follow him, Philip went off and found Nathanael and told him to “Come and see” because he had found the Messiah.
The common denominator throughout today’s passage is the command and the invitation to “Come and see!”
In commenting on this command to “Come and see”, William Barclay wrote:
The Jewish Rabbis had a way of using that phrase in their teaching. They would say: “Do you want to know the answer to this question? Do you want to know the solution to this problem? Come and see, and we will think about it together.” When Jesus said: “Come and see!” he was inviting them, not only to come and talk, but to come and find the things that he alone could open out to them.
How wonderful to think that Jesus invites (and even commands) us to come directly to Him and discover the truths that He alone can open up to us. This was a command for the disciples who walked and talked with Him in the flesh, but it is also an ongoing invitation/command to us today too.
There are so many moments in life that leave us feeling confused and disorientated. We have so many unanswered questions about why God allows certain things to happen and what good He can possibly bring out of them. We find ourselves puzzled by the deeper things of God. Well, Jesus invites us to come to Him and see; to come to Him and allow Him to reveal truth and understanding to us by His Spirit (John 16:13-14).
Years later, the apostle James wrote to his brothers and sisters in Christ, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2). Perhaps this is as relevant to matters of understanding as it is to matters of material provision such as James wrote about. Why not come to Jesus today? Ask Him your questions, listen humbly and respectfully to the whispers of His Spirit, receive the inspired thoughts He may drop into your mind, and ultimately allow Jesus to help you to see what He wants you to see.
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- I will come to Jesus with my curiosity, my questions, confusion and struggles.
- I will allow Him to help me to see.
Lord Jesus, please open the eyes and ears of my heart and mind so that I may truly see and understand the truth today. Amen.
Dave's Diary 