Jesus repeated the question; “Simon son of John, do you love
me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my
sheep,” Jesus said. John 21:16
I just recently took an on-line class on the book, “Reading
John for Dear Life,” written and led by the author, Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles. My
goal was to dig deeper into the word to allow the Holy Spirit to fill and
inform me, so I could be better equipped for my devotional writing.
The class was only six weeks long, too short for me, and
each class was riveting. Dr. Clark-Soles was brilliant, and spoke Greek
fluently. At times she spoke over my head, but I knew that the Lord would get
His message to me personally. At the end of each session, she would have a
question and answer time.
One by one I saw people speak, who were doctors and ministers
in their fancy offices. I wanted to ask some questions, but here I sat, in my
closet, (my office), surrounded by clothes, at age 65, a wife, mother, and
grandmother, and with no valuable degree. In the eyes of the world, I was a “nobody.”
Dr. Clark-Soles then tells of the woman at the well, in
Chapter 4. This woman was nobody special, just like me. Jesus offers her living
water. She hears His message, and understands His love and truth with her
heart. She immediately leaves her water jar to bring others to Christ. She may
have been a “nobody” in the eyes of the world, but in God’s eyes, she became
one of His special instruments in spreading the gospel of Jesus. Her story will
be forever told in the word of God.
Then Dr. Clark-Soles speaks of the man born blind in chapter
9. He, like me, is no one special, but Jesus stops, has a conversation with
Him, and heals him of his blindness. However, there is so much more than that.
The man was not only transformed by receiving physical sight, but he
experienced a transformation far greater, when his spiritual eyes were opened
to the fact that Jesus was the Son of Man and Lord. His proclamation will be
forever written in the Bible for all to see.
Then Dr. Clark-Soles did something to show the transforming
love of God. I had written her a personal e-mail explaining that I was too
timid to show my face and ask questions during class. I did not expect a
response because I knew she was a busy person. Much to my surprise, she responded
to my e-mail, letting me know that I was the very reason she taught the class,
and to her I was certainly important. She demonstrated the exact love that she was
teaching from the book of John.
I did grow in knowledge in that class, but more importantly
was transformed in God’s love through that class. The book of John is like
that. It does not include many other stories that are told in the synoptic
gospels, but Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles sums it up well when she says, “(John) knows
the difference between knowledge for the sake of knowledge and knowledge for
the sake of transformation.”
One can gain so much more than just knowledge from the book
of John. I know I did. We can be transformed by God’s love. As a result, we
must spread that love, and do as He commanded Peter, “Go feed my sheep.”
Dear Father, Thank you for the transformation you have for
all of us, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It’s in His name we pray,
Amen
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