Loving God of life, bless and protect the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from John 1: 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me." 44 (Philip's hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.) 45 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" 46 Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding." But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself." 47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body." 48 Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me." Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree." 49 Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! 51 Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again." (The Message)
Jesus meets us where we are, though He knew us when we were somewhere else. Such was the case here in this story but in our lives it may not seem as innocent. Some of us were in places where we hoped no one saw us, doing things we pray will never come to light. And yes, some of us where simply sitting under a fig tree. Jesus calls us out of love and out of a hope that we will never return to where we were. Jesus' call means a complete change of life and life-attitude so that we will never be the same. I've shared about a film one sees (or used to see) on the retreat called Walk to Emmaus; The disciples have just had the Last Supper and they're talking about what they'll do next and one of the disciples says to the other, "Don't you realize that we will never the same? We'll never get to go home again!" He was telling the truth. Those of us who encounter the Living, Risen Christ and have their lives transformed for the better, never should be the same again. And home is where we serve the Lord, not the same place we've laid our heads to sleep in years past. And the best part? Just as Jesus said to Nathanael, we haven't seen anything yet! "Before this is over," we're "going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again," meaning we will see and witness wonderful, unexplainable things. What will you see if you stay seated under the fig tree? Just a hint: Don't look up!
PRAYER: Loving God, I thank You for Your call upon my life. May my walk with You be one that never leaves me the same. May each step, each day, bring to me opportunities to witness Your power and grace. May I be among those angels that minister to You and Yours. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
