Good Monday morning! Today is the observance of Independence Day. This means that the day was actually yesterday, and many did celebrate last night I assure you, but that today is the day off work. I heard the poppin' and bangin' going on until right near midnight. We almost had a rain out last night as the rains came once more to the area. If you watched the line of storms come our way last night on the weather map, you might have said something like, "oh my!" We got hit with another gully-washer. Those poor guys on the county road crew will be busy all year trying to repair our county roads...and we are still under a flood warning until 0900 this morning. Looking at the weather forecast for this week, we might also wonder if summer is done for the year. Whatever may come, God is in control!
Today, John gives me one of those verses that don't seem to have much to work with:
The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. John 1:35
To approach this verse, I first realize that God holds wisdom in his hands, and I do not. However, God's wisdom is ours for the asking! What do I see in this verse after asking God for wisdom? John had disciples, and apparently he had more than two of them. John also stood with them as a part of his ministry it would seem. I can also read that after John pointed out Jesus to the crowd, he didn't stop his ministry and go away. There is much in this verse to work with!
His mission completed, John got up the next day and went right back to work on that following day. Your mission in life might be completed with your witness to just a few people, but God may have more work for you to do after that mission is complete. For one thing, the trial of your faith may not be complete, or the working out of your salvation may need some more time after the completion of your life's mission. We might wonder why we have to hang around after our retirement from an active mission or a job. John the apostle tells us that John the Baptist had a following day, and we may very well have one too. Perhaps my mission of ministry in this life ended yesterday, but, the following day Bucky got up and wrote another devotional. This fall after Rick's final call-out for the railroad, he will get up the following morning and go mow the church lawn. Mostly because we seem to have plenty of moisture this year and the grass will probably need mowing until December or so. We all may have a following day to our ministry or mission on this earth.
John also had disciples; we tend to think that only Jesus had disciples, but taking on a younger man as a disciple was a common practice in those days. Of course, I doubt that many parents in John's time wanted their sons to grow up to be the follower of a wilderness holy nut like John the Baptist. Today we want our children to go to law school or medical school, perhaps even pharmacy school, but school of some type so that they can make a good living. Following John the Baptist was sort of like having a kid grow up to go to bell-ringer school for the Salvation Army... there's no wages in it! So much for the practical, non-trusting in God part of John's discipleship. Obviously John's disciples didn't come for the money, or even the fine vittles John put on the table. Locusts and wild honey? That might get a little tiresome. Was the wild honey enough to make a locust palatable?
Just as John's life changed with the arrival of Jesus, so his disciple's lives would change too, but we ain't there yet. Stay in the verse! Evidently something that John said appealed to some young men enough that they chose to follow him as disciples. The young women were probably not permitted to stay with a wilderness preacher as disciples since disciple training went on 24/7 as we say these days. John had disciples, he stood with them, and he kept on working. Not a small amount of wisdom there in that one little verse. Praise God for the new day!
Bucky
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