Good, soggy, and wet, Wednesday morning! I have been out among the wrack and ruin; I have walked a street or two in search of the elusive perfect photograph; I have seen the closed highway and the wrecked trailer; I have seen the closed donut shop (what's up with that?), and I have rescued Old Glory from further desecration. Yes, walking at the other end of our street, I came upon a sorry sight indeed, a flag (pole and all!) half-buried in the silt from last night's storm. The flag is now drying in my basement after a careful and lengthy hand washing; that is also my excuse for being late with the devotional this morning.
Each time I tell tales about how big and bad the storm was the night before, a bigger and badder one comes along. We are having quite the year for thunderstorms. I have a video of the storm winding up just to the west of us last night. The video might have picked up the 'tink' of a softball bat down at the ballpark too. Hardcore softball players or foolish knotheads? You be the judge.
Today, John pays a price for pointing out Jesus: He loses his disciples.
When John's two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. (John 1:37)
My footnote says that this was Andrew for sure, and probably John the Gospel writer. In either case, it is interesting that two of John's disciples became the first two of Jesus' disciples. Is this a breach of loyalty though? No, a greater teacher has arrived and the disciples have been sent to him by their old teacher. John the Baptist wanted everyone to go and follow Jesus. Not many teachers would have John's humility. Jesus was a special man, and John the Baptist knew it. John had no trouble stepping back to allow the Messiah to have his time in the limelight... and to have John's own disciples.
We too have the opportunity to step back and allow Jesus his time in our lives. In the first part of my adult life, I had the chance to be my own teacher and disciple. I knew things, I could learn things, and I thought that I knew what was best for me. Then along came Jesus. Christ showed me that I didn't know very much, that I had much more to learn, and that God alone knew what was best for me. One of the best decisions in my own life was to follow Jesus and leave that old teacher behind. John and Andrew felt the same, even though their old teacher was not themselves, but none other than John the Baptist. They moved on to greater things with the greatest teacher.
Last night, I tried to remind God a few times that we had quite enough rain for the day. He kept telling me that He kept His own counsel on that matter. We had to do the bailing brigade thing across the street again, but this time no water made it to their basement, praise God! We have quite a bit of damage across the town again, but no one was hurt to my knowledge. Tornadoes came close, but none made it to town. As in all things, I can see this morning that God was in control.
Bucky
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