This morning was a great time of study and learning, but also a time of realization concerning my goals in study, and their effect on how I live my life.
OK, I need to explain all of this. After yesterday's non-study, I got the opposite experience today.
The Scripture, still from John 1, concerns the calling of disciples. The most obvious words or phrases that come out of these verses are "Follow Me", spoken by Jesus to the two disciples of John the Baptist, Andrew and probably John, and the invitation by Phillip to Nathanael to "Come and see" about Jesus, but the part that drew my attention was the discourse of Jesus with Nathanael.
Before Nathanael gets to Jesus, Jesus speaks to the others around Him, perhaps Andrew and Simon Peter, the two who followed Him the day before, and He tells them that this man that is coming to see about Him is Nathanael and he is an Israelite that does not try to deceive. Jesus knows the man, he has seen him under the fig tree, as He tells Nathanael, and He not only recognizes him, He knows his inner character as well.
Nathanael is a man that does not try to make others believe that he is someone else. What you see is what you get with him. He seems to be a complex person, a man who is willing to come and check out what someone else has told him, but also a man with a normal prejudging attitude. Because of where Jesus comes from, Nazareth, he looks down on Him.
Nathanael then hears Jesus tell him that He saw him under the fig tree, and he is surprised. Jesus was nowhere near and could not have seen him with a normal eye. Nathanael had been under the fig tree, probably the day before, when Phillip came to him, but Jesus was not then in the vicinity. He changes his tune about Jesus, when he realizes this and goes from saying He can't be anyone special, to calling Him the Son of God. Quite a turnaround.
Jesus then tells him that this fact that He knew where he was the day before was nothing compared to what he would see as he followed Him. Just wait and you will see much more. Angels ascending and descending looks like a direct reference to the Old Testament story of Jacob and his dream of the ladder to God.
All of this reflecting on Nathanael and the maybes of his encounter with Jesus lead me to this prayer for today:
God, thank you for giving me the time and the "awakeness" to look at this passage with some new eyes this morning. Maybe I did chase a few rabbit trails, but I find it interesting to know or at least speculate about these men that knew Jesus firsthand, and to see how these may intersect with my life right now. There is so much more in the verses that I so glibly scan and read, and I want to know more about You through them and more about my interaction with Scripture and with You. Please continue to give me insights and help me not to take them just as facts to be known, but jewels to be incorporated into my life for Your glory.
I don't want to get puffed up with knowledge, because You know that is my bent, but I want to let my life reflect what You teach me out of all this.
It is not just the facts that I need, but a life change that results from the Truth.
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