Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Holy Ordination - ‘Priests: Called
for Divine Ministry
Gracious John
St. Andrews MTC, NY
35 The next day John again was standing
with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he
exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him
say this, and they followed Jesus.
The passage describes two disciples, one of which was Andrew, leaving from their current state and following Christ. We can evaluate some changes that the individuals in this passage experienced by taking a look at the experience of these individuals.
At this time John was preparing the way for the Lord. Here we can see that John’s mission changes from preparing the way to showing the way. When we think of divine ministry, it is easy to think of John the Baptist. He was a man whose entire identity was to become less than the one coming after him. Yet, we can see the fruit of John’s ministry by the response of his disciples. We can see that his only message to them and everyone around was that the Messiah was coming. His message was so clear that at the mention of the arrival of the Messiah, the disciples left John and aligned themselves with Jesus. This not only represents the divinity of John’s message, but also the awareness and submission of the disciples. We are aware of the message of Christ and even the second coming, but are we aligning ourselves with Christ? Is our ministry and message as clear as John?
Next we can see that Jesus is asking the disciples: “What do you want?” What a bold, direct, and challenging question. The only thing bolder is the response of the disciples. Instead of answering His question, the disciples wanted to know where Jesus was staying. We can see from the response that Jesus gives an instruction and a promise. Understanding the need and want of these men, Jesus took it a step further. The disciples followed Him and spent the day with Him. Their regular duties, responsibilities, tasks, and wants are removed and replaced with trust in someone they have never seen before, but know and trust with all their being. This is the call of the disciples to divine ministry. Again, we see that the response causes Andrew to first find his brother and bring him to the Lord. This again reminds us the importance of setting out to find our loved ones and those close to us in addition to others who need the news of the Messiah.
These men are not extraordinary rather extra-ordinary, yet their desire for the Messiah set them apart from others. As we are coming to another close of the week, let us evaluate our call and ministry in this world. Are we attentive to the message of our Messiah? Are we aligned with Christ or do we need a route re-calculation? Do we remember to share Christ’s message to those who are right in front of us? Jesus is asking us today, “What do you want?” Let’s answer as John did, that we decrease and He increase.
The passage describes two disciples, one of which was Andrew, leaving from their current state and following Christ. We can evaluate some changes that the individuals in this passage experienced by taking a look at the experience of these individuals.
At this time John was preparing the way for the Lord. Here we can see that John’s mission changes from preparing the way to showing the way. When we think of divine ministry, it is easy to think of John the Baptist. He was a man whose entire identity was to become less than the one coming after him. Yet, we can see the fruit of John’s ministry by the response of his disciples. We can see that his only message to them and everyone around was that the Messiah was coming. His message was so clear that at the mention of the arrival of the Messiah, the disciples left John and aligned themselves with Jesus. This not only represents the divinity of John’s message, but also the awareness and submission of the disciples. We are aware of the message of Christ and even the second coming, but are we aligning ourselves with Christ? Is our ministry and message as clear as John?
Next we can see that Jesus is asking the disciples: “What do you want?” What a bold, direct, and challenging question. The only thing bolder is the response of the disciples. Instead of answering His question, the disciples wanted to know where Jesus was staying. We can see from the response that Jesus gives an instruction and a promise. Understanding the need and want of these men, Jesus took it a step further. The disciples followed Him and spent the day with Him. Their regular duties, responsibilities, tasks, and wants are removed and replaced with trust in someone they have never seen before, but know and trust with all their being. This is the call of the disciples to divine ministry. Again, we see that the response causes Andrew to first find his brother and bring him to the Lord. This again reminds us the importance of setting out to find our loved ones and those close to us in addition to others who need the news of the Messiah.
These men are not extraordinary rather extra-ordinary, yet their desire for the Messiah set them apart from others. As we are coming to another close of the week, let us evaluate our call and ministry in this world. Are we attentive to the message of our Messiah? Are we aligned with Christ or do we need a route re-calculation? Do we remember to share Christ’s message to those who are right in front of us? Jesus is asking us today, “What do you want?” Let’s answer as John did, that we decrease and He increase.
PRAYER
Dear Lord, we hear
Your call today and we want to follow You. Help us to leave what keeps us from
You and follow You with full trust. Thank You for promising to reveal Yourself
to us when we seek You with our hearts. Help our ministry to be divine and
our desire to always want more of You. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“Let us practice the
fine art of making every work a priestly ministration. Let us believe that God
is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.” -A.W Tozer