Father, I would ask that You would enable me to see what You see. And in doing so that Your will – not mine, not others no matter how powerful or respected they may be – but that Your will would encompass all. Amen.
John 1:14 (<<click here to read the passage)
Here is an old, old joke that I remember from when I was a child.
“How do you catch a unique squirrel?”
“U – nique up on him!”
And one more I just learned,
“How do you catch a tame squirrel?”
“Tame way.”
I know they’re lame but corny jokes are the best!
On a much more serious note, I am so grateful I don’t have to “nique” up on Jesus, for in all of creation the is no one nor no thing more unique than He. We don’t have to find Him for He has already gone above and beyond to make Himself available to all humanity – without one single exclusion!
Read through this passage once more,
And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception). John 1:14 AMP
Each of us is called a child of God but Jesus is unique in that He is the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father. As the first verses of this chapter remind us.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
….The Word was with God,
….and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
….and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
….and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
….and the darkness can never extinguish it. vs1-5 NLT
The Word – Jesus Christ – existed before there was a beginning! He has always been and always will be! Where better to stand than in a relationship with Him? Absolutely nothing gets by Him to us! If we suffer – and we must if we are to be like Him (1 Peter 2:21) – it is for our growth and development to make us still more like Him. And we do not suffer alone, for He is beside us all along the way. He never leaves our side. And in the end, if it doesn’t make us stronger but does kill us, we will be with Him and all our brothers and sisters in Christ for all of time.
(I don’t know exactly what eternity will entail but I’m pretty certain we won’t just be floating around on clouds jammin’ on our harps! God is too awesome, too creative, too forward-thinking for anything as boring as that!)
…the Word was God… yet as I wrap things up, my study Bible* had this to say (if you don’t already have a study Bible, they are very helpful!),
When Jesus was conceived, God [the Word] became a man. He was not part man and part God; he was completely human and completely divine (Colossians 2:9). Before Christ came, people could know God partially. After Christ came, people could know God fully because he became visible and tangible in Christ. Christ is the perfect expression of God in human form… Jesus is both God and man.
Lord Jesus, there is no place I would rather be that with You! Continue to draw me closer to You. May my desire to be like You burn in my heart stronger each and every day! Amen!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Feb 21st, 2021, Sun, 7:49 pm
