“Better be pruned to grow—than cut up to burn.”
John Trapp
I sincerely hope that the title of this week’s devotional has you scratching your head. What do these three phrases mean? Are they related? Has the extreme cold weather impacted Dale’s cognitive functioning? The answers are: 1) come to Sunday School this Sunday and find out; 2) yes; and 3) probably.
Now on to something a little different. We are very soon going to be looking at John 10. This is the chapter that includes the Good Shepherd discourse. What struck me as wonderful is the way that Jesus demonstrates himself to be the good shepherd in his encounter with the man born blind. After being reviled by the Pharisees, the man born blind is then cast out of the synagogue. He is suffering persecution on account of Jesus Christ. (compare with Matthew 5:11-16) Then Jesus re-enters the picture, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’” (see John 9:35-41) Jesus found him. The good shepherd goes after his sheep. Hallelujah! The man born blind had heard the voice of Jesus and had obeyed it, but he had not seen the Savior’s face. Now Jesus finds him and asks him the central question of our existence, (this is not hyperbole.), “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” There are so many questions that Jesus could have asked. He could have enquired about the man’s feelings or his work prospects or his familial strife. And while the Lord does care about those things, he asks the most needful thing of all, “do you believe in the Son of Man?” That question is put forward by Jesus to the man born blind and it is posed to every reader of the Fourth Gospel since that encounter. What about you? Have you come to believe in the Son of Man? Have you repented of sin and turned to him in faith? If not, do so this very day. Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Unto Him be glory,
Pastor Dale Smith
