Psalm 31; Deut. 7:12-16; Titus 2:1-15; John 1:35-42
If they kept the commandments and rules they would enjoy the covenant blessings completely. The world would be perfect if only the people were perfect. There would be no barrenness, no sickness, they would destroy all their enemies, and everything they do would enjoy the blessing of God for fruitfulness. What happened? Was God faithful? We know that as humans we do not see the fullness of God’s blessing in our lives and in our world because the world and we are broken by sin. We are unable to perfectly keep the covenant, it is a part of our humanity. Even if we kept the outward legal obligations we would have wrong motives and we would, therefore, sin. The picture here is of a world not marred by sin and it is the kingdom for which we pray and our hearts are to long for this kingdom to come quickly.
Jesus begins to call disciples of His own. After His baptism, John began to point even his own disciples towards Jesus as the one who will take away the sins of the world. John could not have known what this would entail, the cross and the resurrection from the dead, but he knew that was the work of this One. Two of John’s disciples decide to more closely inspect this man, to follow Him. Why? What were they hoping to see? They were given the opportunity to follow Him completely and they leapt at the opportunity. They had been following John until John said there is the One to whom my work has been pointing. They chose to follow the one who could take away sin, they were looking for the kingdom.
Our lives are to point towards the kingdom of God. The world should see in us that there is another way of being human. In fact, what we are to reveal is what it means to be truly human, not the humanity that has adapted itself to the world of sin and death but the humanity that was intended by God. What controls our lives, our passions or the Spirit of God? Paul tells Titus what one of my mentors always says, “Everything you do teaches.” What are we teaching those around us by our actions and attitudes and words?
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
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