After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." For even his own brothers did not believe in him. John 7:1-5REFLECTION
Claim your space! Make a name for yourself! Show yourself to the world so that everybody can see how special you really are!
Some people are very ambitious. They want to be the centre of attention and they want to be respected and admired by the masses. And if these ambitious people don’t have the talents or qualities to make them stand out themselves, they all too often project their own idle aspirations on someone else. They put people on pedestals just to see them fall. And if their self-erected idols don’t stumble spontaneously, they will knock them off their feet so that they can look down on them and feel a little bit better about themselves.
If you take the words of Jesus’ brothers at face-value, they don’t seem to be so mean or deceptive. But John stresses that even Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in him. Why did they want Jesus to go to Judea if this was such a dangerous place for him? Didn't they know? Didn't they care?
PRAYER
Dear Jesus, it’s such a privilege to study your Word and learn more about you. It is intriguing to see how you wisely steered away from people who wanted to manipulate you. I guess many of them only wanted to see you stumble and fall. But you didn’t follow the crowd; you didn’t give in to temptations; you did not try to make a great impression – you were only obeying your Father’s holy will.
It is so sad that so many people only came to you to see some more signs and wonders. They wanted to be impressed by your gifts, but they couldn’t care less about the One who gives us all these wonderful blessings.
Please Lord Jesus, make me more like you. I want to follow your guidance and ignore all deceptive voices that only try to distract and manipulate me. I don’t want to pursue my own or anybody else’s agenda; I want to be guided by your will alone.
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3 comments:
I think we have to cut Jesus' brothers some slack; they weren't converted (reading into the text) until some time around the Resurrection. So you can look at James as a great example of man before and after his conversion.
This is today's Oswald Chambers' reading. I think it sort of pertains, since it can be read as a criticism of seeking to be a "plaster saint." That would be a sort of self-idolotry, of which I confess I am often guilty.
INSIGHT NOT EMOTION
"I have to lead my life in faith, without seeing Him." 2 Corinthians 5:7 (MOFFATT)
For a time we are conscious of God's attentions, then, when God begins to use us in His enterprises, we take on a pathetic look and talk of the trials and the difficulties, and all the time God is trying to make us do our duty as obscure people. None of us would be obscure spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our duty when God has shut up heaven? Some of us always want to be illuminated saints with golden babes and the flush of inspiration, and to have the saints of God dealing with us all the time. A gilt-edged saint is no good, he is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and altogether unlike God. We are here as men and women, not as half-fledged angels, to do the work of the world, and to do it with an infinitely greater power to stand the turmoil because we have been born from above.
If we try to re-introduce the rare moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are making a fetish of the moments when God did come and speak, and insisting that He must do it again; whereas what God wants us to do is to "walk by faith." How many of us have laid ourselves by, as it were, and said - "I cannot do any more until God appears to me." He never will, and without any inspiration, without any sudden touch of God, we will have to get up. Then comes the surprise - "Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!" Never live for the rare moments, they are surprises. God will give us touches of inspiration when He sees we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never make our moments of inspiration our standard; our standard is our duty.
(You can read his journal online at http://www.myutmost.org/)
Pedestal?
Center of attention?
I don't even want to be my own light. I definitely prefer to be a reflection of The Light (I love the name of your other blog!).
I must try to remember to allow the Light that is Jesus guide me always.
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