Day 32: The Awe Factor

17 March, Day 32: John 7:40-53

Well. It's a bit crazy how a month has passed in the blink of an eye... and when I note the day down at the start of every blog, I'm a little bit amazed. Surely, I'm not just 8 days from the end?

Checked up on this, and turns out I will finish this blog 6 days before Easter.

Did you know that Sundays are not included in the count of 40 days of Lent - I read that each one is treated as a mini-Easter celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus. Had no idea!

Today's verse is from John 7: 40-53

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

 Thoughts:

 In today's verse the people are undecided on who Jesus really is. Some think he is a Prophet, others are sure he is the Messiah, and still others are doubtful about his background and identity.

The guards who were sent to arrest him were unable to do so because probably something didn't  feel right to them. They were so taken in by his words and teachings, they seemed unable to arrest him. Jesus seemed to amaze the crowds with his 'awe factor'.

Are we able to pay attention to this 'awe factor' in our lives? It could be a person, an inner voice, a random experience, something we read, a daily activity, a stranger... or any of the other countless ways God tries to communicate with us and make his presence felt through us.

Takeaway: Seek and be open to God's voice in my daily interactions with people and the world around me.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keep the faith

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” John 15:1-2 A timely reminder as I allow life to usurp my peace and joy which I had slowly but surely gained over the past few months, especially as I started to read the Bible over 40 days for lent. It is so easy to slip back into old ways. We’re so fickle like that. For me, it happened because I had family visiting and so all my undivided attention turned to them. I did do my daily Bible readings but its message did not stand out like usual. I did not carry it with me through the day, like I usually aim to do. Shows me how quick to preoccupation my mind and heart is. The above lines have hidden meaning in them. At first, I skim over and yadayadayada goes through my mind… yeah, well of course the father is the vine and I am the branches. That must be the message which I’ve often heard before. And that must b
Read more

Day 40: The home stretch

So, it's the 40th day! The final day of Lent is actually Holy Thursday. So, since I'd covered all the Sundays of lent, I've completed 39 days and gotten here without having ideally covered every reading in the Holy Week. To wrap up my exercise, I will focus on the verses from Thursday and (good) Friday to wrap up this exercise, as it's at the heart of Christian faith. I attended the service yesterday and was surprised to find almost half of it was in Polish - both songs and readings. Didn't realize there was such a huge Polish community in Taunton, UK and thought it interesting.  (Prayer and song sound even more intriguing when you don't understand the language so you are forced to go by feel and not by words).  Interestingly, unlike the case in India where 12 older folks are selected for the washing of the feet, the main priest walked down the middle of the church and washed different people's feet (seemingly at random). Maundy Thursday As a chil
Read more

Day 27: Finding neverland

12 March, Day 27: St. John 4: 43-54 It's very much part of human nature to want to see 'proof' before we believe anything. We tend to want to use fact and reasoning to shape our views of the world, and this is one of the ways we process information. However, there are things beyond human understanding that just cannot be proven - such as miracles, or faith. This is one of the reasons why so many dodgy 'spiritual people' exist and thrive. Because they tap into people's desire for the unknown. And this forces many of us to turn skeptics when it comes to God and spirituality. Today's verse is from John 4:43-54 : “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” Thoughts:  When Jesus travels from Judea to Gaililee, an official of the King come to him and begs him to heal his dying son. Jesus speaks the above words in response but declares to the Official that his son would live. Even before the Official reached hom
Read more