Gospel of John

“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’”

John 8:7

The message that Jesus teaches in chapter 8 is that we are all flawed and sinful. It is easy to pick out the sin and shortcomings of others. Jesus identifies that we must first search our own hearts for the areas in which we too come up short.

I recently moved into a home together with my wife. Just like living with anyone, we learn so much more about our spouse or roommate when living in close quarters to each other. It’s so easy to pick out flaws in one another while never self examining the issues that we each have in our own lives.

Jesus concludes his story in John 8:11 by saying “Go now and leave you life of sin.” When we realize the sin that has entangled us, Jesus commands us to change. Our challenge this week is to take some time for self examination. Once we have identified our sin, it is time to leave it. When we leave our sin behind, then we are able to run faster towards the truth and life.

- Matt

Gospel of John

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’”

John 6:35

Last week we learned that through serving others, God allows us to be filled up by Jesus himself. The verse above talks about hunger and thirst but not in the physical sense. Instead Jesus is addressing our desires.

I heard a quote a few weeks ago that really got me thinking. It roughly said, “Love, and do what you want.” It got me thinking about the freedom that God gives to believers as long as we love him. If we put God first in our lives and love him more than anything else than the decisions that we make will reflect what God truly desires. If I could choose just one rule to live by my entire life, I think it would be just that, love God first and foremost. As long as I continue to put Him first in my life I can be fully confident in the decisions that I make.

I read a book called “Just do Something” when I graduated from school and the main theme from the book was discovering the vast freedom that Jesus gives us as long as we put him first in our lives. Jesus promises to be the only one that will fulfill our needs no matter what profession we have, whether we are married, or how much money we make. What we do is less important than why we are doing it and to who’s glory we are doing it.

Our challenge this week is to focus on why we do anything and how we can start loving God first always. Thanks once again for reading this week and enjoy this challenge as we seek to grow together.

-Matt