Day 4-Saturday, February 17th
Easily Impressed
Read John 1:42-51
When we are children, we can be very easily impressed by almost anything. Our world is so small that we don’t realize that there are bigger and better things in the world. As we grow older, we become much harder to impress because we view ourselves to be wiser and more knowledgeable of the world.
When Philip tells Nathaniel that he has found the Messiah in Nazareth, Nathaniel is unimpressed-actually wondering aloud if “anything good can come” from Nazareth. Historically, Nazareth was known as one of the lowliest places on earth. It is worth considering that the God who created the universe came to earth and was born in the small town of Bethlehem and raised in the lowly town of Nazareth. Although both famous today because of Jesus, neither town was well-known at the time of the birth and childhood of Jesus.
Jesus, being aware of this attitude already, confronts it head on with Nathaniel.
With this, the attitude of Nathaniel changes immediately. Nathaniel is ready to declare that Jesus is the “Son of God” based on Jesus simply knowing he was sitting under a fig tree. I can imagine a smile must have spread across the face of Jesus with this enthusiastic declaration from Nathaniel. Nathaniel had absolutely no idea what power Jesus actually had at His disposal and what he and the other disciples would experience in the days to come. For now, this simple declaration of faith would be enough.
In our world of wonders, have we forgotten what God has done and is able to do? Have others whispered in our ear that the Bible is full of myths and that believing in Jesus is for the weak and old? When we take our eyes off Jesus and neglect to spend time with God in scripture reading and prayer, the skepticism of our world can grow louder and we can begin to think like Nathaniel. But, when we turn our hearts back to God, He will reveal His true nature to us day after day and strengthen our faith.
Questions to consider:
What skeptical ideas have you recently heard about God and the Bible?
What do you think about these ideas? What does the Bible say about these ideas?