John 1:39 — He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
So, the two disciples who had just left John the Baptist to follow Jesus ask Him where He's staying. I love that Jesus' response to that isn't a direct answer, it's again a bit of a challenge or confrontation even.
He didn't give them a location, instead He gave them a choice to follow Him. Just like yesterday, how many times do we approach Jesus with a preset idea of what we need, want, or desire? We ask where you're staying, we humanly expect you'll give us a location.... Right?
The first two recorded instances of Jesus speaking in the Gospel of John are confronting people who want to follow Him.
"What are you seeking?"
"Come and you will see." (After being asked where he was staying)
What is beautiful in today's verse is their response to not being given a direct answer was: So they came and saw… These guys didn't hesitate, they went for it! Praise God for faith and trust like that!
You see in trusting and following Jesus, even when they didn't have a direct answer to their upfront question, they were shown the answer! However, something else happened as well. Their faith and trust in Him grew! He led them to the answer they asked up front.
Oh, how many times do we hesitate to follow Him because we don't have the answers we're seeking or because we don't have the whole picture and plan?
There's nothing wrong with bringing our needs, desires, questions to Him, we're supposed to! That's part of our relationship with Him, but when His answer is "Come and you will see."… well, that's not always what we want to hear. We usually want to hear, "You're healed!", "You're blessed!", "You have what you asked for!", etc…
Again, we absolutely ARE to believe for and pray for and seek the Lord for these things but often the answer is, "Follow Me." or "Trust Me.".......
Follow you, where Lord? Where are we going?
Trust you? How can I trust when I don't know the plan…when I don't know where we're headed?
The prosperity gospel and just our good old microwave/tik tok/amazon bombarded American brains have come to expect answers and delivery upfront, as soon as we want it. Don't have the plan or directions? No problem just ask your local two year old in a walmart basket who has Mom's Iphone or Ipad! They can look it up right there probably!
We're so used to having every single thing we want at the touch of an icon that we tend to think we NEED, or even worse, we DESERVE, to have what we need/want right now, upfront.
Come and see? Sure Jesus, I'll come follow just as soon as you heal up my broken leg…or pour out blessing into my bank account… or show me the plan start to finish, then we can get going!
Let me ask you a question… is this person's faith in Jesus or in what they need/want?
These are all the things the Lord stirred up in me today and I pray they stir some questions up in your heart/mind as well. I close with some verses in Luke chapter nine, that came to me as I was praying over closing this post out.
We find Jesus, once again confronting people who are coming to follow Him. Just think about this as you go to follow Him today. We get so scared of pushing people away, or offending people, that we lose sight of the fact that Jesus' entire ministry on Earth was filled with confrontation. Not angry, bitter, ugly, confrontation, that we're all so good at, but loving, truth filled, confrontation that desperately desires for others to clearly see the truth and walk openly into relationship with Him and not blindly walk into the pit of religion and self-deception.
Luke 9:57-62 --- The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus[a] said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
I ask you, did these three who desired to follow Jesus get the answer they were looking for? Why do we now expect to always have the exact answers and the exact blessing we desire, want, or even need right away?
Christian, what will you do if His response to your prayers today is, 'Come and you will see."?
These are just some things to really think about and talk with the Lord about them in prayer. Talk with your close Christian brother or sister about this. Also as always don't take my word for it, be the Berean and get into the Bible! Read for yourself and let God show you directly.
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