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Day 4, Come and See

The days of Advent have turned cold here in Wisconsin.  It's hard to imagine the text I read this morning given the weather outside.  The text speaks of Jesus as he begins his earthly ministry.  He is relatively unknown - the exception being his cousin, John - the Baptizer.  As Jesus comes to the Jordan to be baptized by him, he also makes contact with his first disciples.

What captures me is the words, "Come and See".

John 1:35-46 
35  The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,
36  and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
37  The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
38  Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
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.
40  One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41  He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).
42  He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). 

43  The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46  Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  


Did you notice that Jesus says it first to Andrew who then goes out and tells it to his brother Simon Peter?  Then Philip follows Jesus the next day and answers Nathanael's question about where Jesus is from with a similar response that he should "come and see".

The other thing that leaps out of the text is Jesus' question to the two disciples in vs 37, "what are you seeking".  He is saying to them, "What do you want?"
They go together...  "Come and See"...  "What do you want?"  
I want in Advent to do both.  I want to "See" Jesus at work in my day.  I want to see him in my family; and in my friendships and fellowship with others; and in my neighborhood and community; and in my day to day activities.  I also want that fellowship with him in prayer...I want to tell him what is on my heart (he knows it already) so that I might truly know that I am following Him.

Andrew says it:  "We have found the Messiah" (vs 41).  Finding Jesus in my day to day world is important any time of the year; but especially in this Advent season, let us "come and see".  AND. we can expect that he will speak into our heart, "What do you want?"

Peace



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