We often rush through Bible passages, trying to gain spiritual growth from
reviewing them quickly before moving on to the rest of our lives. But Jesus
Christ was never in a hurry during His time on Earth. The life Jesus modeled
was one of patience, and patience is necessary for us to learn the lessons that
He wants to teach us.
Slowing down will enable us to pay
attention well to what Jesus has to tell us, so we don’t miss lessons about His
character that can change our own life for the better.
Here’s how we can slow down so we
don’t miss what Jesus has to teach us about Himself:
Learn about his “out of the box”
glory. Making the time to fully reflect on
the humble way that Jesus chose to enter our world (“…. the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth
to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid
him in a manger….” Luke
1-12) – as a baby in a feeding trough for animals, a manger, can show us how different
God can be about His glory. Just as Jesus’ touch transformed the lowly manger
into a symbol of God’s glory, God’s touch transforms our lives. We’re forgotten
“beings” without moral principles until we begin relationships with Jesus, but
from then on, we become treasures who are free to pursue glorious purposes.
Jesus welcomes us “just as we are” (sinful, lost, and helpless) and transforms
us into people who enjoy His glorious presence and radiate it to others as His
love flows through us.
Learn about mysterious grace. The Bible story of how Jesus met with a Samaritan woman at
a well (John 4:1-15) and offered her “living water” (“… those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty
again.” John 4:14) shows how He draws
people to Himself by pointing out something we need but don’t currently have or
something we want to know that only He can reveal to us. Jesus’ interaction
with the woman shows both the curiosity of human nature and the mystery of
God’s grace at work. Studying this story, we realize that God won’t be defined
or limited by human expectations, so He can’t be easily explained or understood
(“My thoughts are nothing
like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could
imagine. For
just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher
than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”) –
but in every one of God’s mysteries that we encounter, we see glimpses of God
at work that can help us get to know Him better.
Learn about almost unbelievable
kindness. We read how Jesus transformed Levi
the tax collector, who was considered a criminal due to his corrupt practices,
into Matthew the apostle. (“As Jesus was walking along,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth.“Follow me and be my disciple...” Matthew 9:9) Matthew joined
Jesus in His earthly ministry and wrote the Gospel of Matthew. This shows us that when Jesus comes along,
even people with the worst behavior can change us into people who work for the
best. Reflecting on this story teaches us that Jesus sees us as a beloved
person that He wants to use in His kingdom – regardless of the mistakes we may
have made in the past – and inspires us to say “yes” whenever Jesus calls us to
follow Him into an adventure.
Learn
about His mighty power.
When we reflect on how Jesus calmed the storm that was raging on the Sea of
Galilee around his frightened disciples, (“Suddenly
a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat……… he got up and rebuked the winds and the
waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed
and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Matthew
8:26-27) we can discover the wonder of how Jesus can help us,
too, in even the scariest circumstances we encounter. Jesus hasn’t promised to
help us avoid trouble. In fact he said “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33), But He will be with
us to help overcome it. Jesus is always in control of the circumstances in our
life, and we can tap into His awesome power to deal with them. We should choose
to trust Him to help and guide us when storms hit our life.
Learn
about His miracles.
The Bible story of how Jesus miraculously healed a woman who had been suffering
from a bleeding condition for years can teach us about the proper perspective
on miracles. (“then a woman who
had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She
touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, “If I
can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made
you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment. Matthew 9:18-22) Jesus won’t simply hand out
miracles just because people ask for them, and when He does choose to perform
miracles, He does so in unexpected ways. Jesus’ compassion is bigger than our
vision; it encompasses everything we need, including factors we didn’t even
realize that we needed. Choose to trust Jesus even when His vision for us is
different from our expectations of Him.
Learn about tattered faith. Reflecting on how Jesus responded when the imprisoned John
the Baptist expressed damaged faith can teach us how to deal well with doubts
and discouragement of our own. (“John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the
things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the
Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Matthew 11:2-3) John sent some men to ask Jesus
whether or not He really was the Messiah. Jesus answered by telling the men to
report to John the evidence that supported his role as the Messiah (from the
blind receiving sight to good news being proclaimed to the poor). From this
story, we can learn that faith in Jesus is more than just hope; it’s the substance
of hope, because there’s real, solid evidence that Jesus is exactly who He
claims to be. We can always be honest with Jesus about our thoughts and
feelings when our faith is tattered, and ask Him hard questions, too. He will
respond by giving us stronger faith.
Learn about beautiful sorrow. As we consider the Bible story of Lazarus and his sisters
Mary and Martha (John 11:1-40), we can learn about the beauty of Jesus’
willingness to enter fully into human sorrow, as well as His power to redeem
it. Jesus’ intentionally let Lazarus die (and Mary and Martha grieve) before He
resurrected Lazarus so He could show how beauty can come out of suffering for
those who place their trust in God. Jesus is a Man of Sorrows who cares deeply
about our own sorrow and stands ready to redeem it.
Learn about His servant’s attitude. Reading the Bible story of Jesus washing His disciples’
feet, (John 13:1-17) we can discover what true service looks like: a
willingness to do whatever God requires (even when it seems insulting to other
people) with humility that ironically marks true greatness at work. Jesus said
after performing this lowly task “I have set you
an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:15) Instead
of serving others to impress God, we should serve simply as a way of expressing
our love for a God who already loves us completely and unconditionally. Serving
with great love – even in the humblest of ways – will lead to great results.
Learn about brutal love. Jesus’ brutal death on the cross to pay for humanity’s sins
was motivated by His great love. Reflecting on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross
helps us grasp the contrast between the brutality of sin and the love of God,
who is willing to do whatever it takes to save us from sin. Thanks to what
Jesus did for us on the cross, we don’t have to be destroyed by sin but can be
reconciled to the source of all love: God.
Learn about bloodied hope. Studying the Bible story of “Doubting Thomas” (the apostle
Thomas who said, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail
wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound
in his side.” John 20:25)
can teach us that true confidence and peace come from Jesus meeting us wherever
we are. Jesus stands ready to respond to our doubts and answer our challenging
questions, just as he did for Thomas, so we need to bring them to Him with an
open mind. We can find real hope in Jesus’ bloodied body because it’s evidence
of what He did to connect us with God forever.
Paul writes to Timothy “Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with
faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold
tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have
confessed so well before many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11-12)
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