Good Wednesday morning! Word has it that the wheat harvest will begin any day now, but most likely tomorrow. After yesterday many things have a new coating of dust on them. The eye doctor had a 'back to school' special going yesterday that reminded me of the dwindling days of summer for the kids around here. Yes, by my count the halfway point of their summer vacation has been passed and the dreaded return to school looms on the horizon. As one who no longer has to attend school, I am glad to see the new school year approaching. Does that mean that I can no longer learn though? I wonder if a man named Philip had reached a point in his life where he was ready to become a learner again? In today's verse, we meet Philip for the first time in the Gospel of John.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come, follow me." (John 1:43)
Wait a minute, "Jesus decided"? I thought that all of Jesus' life and ministry was laid out in prophecy long ago; what would he have to make decisions about? While Jesus did fulfill many prophecies in his life and ministry, he also had the same day to day decisions that we all face in our lives. Where do we go today? Perhaps you work for an employer and that is already decided for you. Jesus, as a traveling rabbi or teacher, could wander from town to town at will. However, Jesus also had appointments to keep with a group of men called to be his disciples. I don't think that any of the first twelve disciples were chosen at random. However, that doesn't mean that Philip wasn't going to the same place every day to do some kind of work, or simply to take his morning coffee break. God may have invented the morning coffee break so that Philip would be sitting in exactly that spot in Galilee when Jesus arrived. I don't know if coffee had been discovered at this time, but whatever first century equivalent they had for our morning break may have been when Jesus came up to Philip.
Was Philip in a place of searching in his life? Did God prepare him for the discipleship by having Galilee Exports, Inc. hold layoffs the week before Jesus arrived? We don't know, but certainly Philip was ready for his new life when Jesus arrived. I notice that in selecting disciples Jesus didn't run into anyone who said, "Let me think about that a while; that's a big step for me and I need to check with the wife on that." We don't know how long Peter, Andrew, Philip or any of the other disciples had to wait before their new life began. We do know that Matthew was busy collecting taxes when Jesus called him; James and John were fishing with their father, but Philip seems to have been waiting to be found. Could it be that Philip was lost when Jesus found him? Philip may not have been physically lost, but he may have reached a point in life where he started to question his beliefs or his career. Suddenly, into the darkness of introspection and wandering... "Come, follow me." We don't know from this verse what Philip did at that moment, but we do know one important thing - Jesus found him.
We spend time lost in this world. At times we wonder many things about our beliefs, our government, our employers (or lack thereof), our friends, neighbors, family, and just about everything else in this life. We can easily get lost in distractions in this digital age, but Jesus is still in the business of finding new disciples. Are you the next one?
Have a great day in Christ!
Bucky
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