A much fuller day than I expected, Father, but it was all good! It is a great comfort to know that You are a part of it all, that You never leave my side. Your love is made evident every day!
John 1:43-46 (<<click here to read the passage)
(I sit and read, often wondering what in the world I’m going to write about. As I do so, You always bring something to mind! Thank You, Father, for Your inspiration!)
I majored in Church Music in college and my first position out of college was as a full-time minister of music at a very nice-sized church in the St. Louis, Missouri metro area – specifically, Webster Groves. I was so excited to be blessed with the opportunity! I had a wonderful choir, a goodly amount of music from which to choose, and a reasonable budget with which to work.
One of the first conversations that I had – and honestly, I do not recall with whom – regarded the church organist. I was told she was a handful and would be a challenge to work with. If I remember correctly, she was in her early 60s and supposedly she was pretty set in her ways and was not shy about voicing her opinions.
I am very pleased to say that I never had one problem with her. She was a fine organist, and we had a wonderful working relationship. She was a beautiful lady inside and out, and I am so glad that I didn’t just assume that she was going to be a problem.
As Jesus continued to move forward in His earthly ministry, He continued to pull others close to himself. One of those men was Philip, another resident of Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown. v44
As soon as Philip found out who Jesus was, he ran to tell his friend, Nathaniel who was from Cana. He excitedly told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” v45
You’d think that Nathaniel would have been excided, too, but his initial reaction was, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Nazareth had a bad reputation due to the fact that a Roman garrison was there, too. Other things may have factored in but regardless people from Nazareth were not looked upon fondly.
We all know people that assume things due to association. Another word that can be applied is prejudice. Unfortunately, it’s not always other people who think those thoughts…we can be guilty of prejudice, as well.
Like Nathaniel, if someone is from a certain community or area, we can label them along with everything we’ve ever heard about “those” people. But geography is not our only denominator. We can use all kinds of things to make assumptions about others – clothing, hairstyles (or if they color it funky colors!), race, gender, religious persuasions, the number of tattoos they have, political affiliations, and the list goes on and on.
We can throw others in the pot with what we assume will be their thoughts or personalities and we never even give them a chance to show us who they are and what they think. Thankfully, though Nathaniel had his assumptions, it didn’t stop him from going to see for himself, as Philip had encouraged him. v46
Lord Jesus, help us to keep open hearts and minds when we interact with others. Help us not assume and pound them into the same mold everyone else does. May we see with Your eyes and love with Your heart! Amen.
Mar 14th, 2021, Sun, 8:15 pm
