New Testament Reading

As I was reading in John 1 tonight, specifically verses 35 through 42, and read the accompanying study notes, I ran across an interesting question.  One that made me stop - and will stick in my mind until I have more time to think it over.

Here's the question:  Why are you following Christ?

Simple question - right.  Wrong!!  Are we following Christ for the right reasons?  If we are following Christ for our own purposes, i.e. His blessings, His favor, etc., then we are following Christ for the wrong reasons.  If this is the case, we are actually asking Christ to follow us - to bless and support us - to advance our own causes instead of His.

Do we seek Christ's glory - or our own?  When we perform a good deed, do we expect or want to hear praise for it?  If so, then did we perform that deed to show God's love or to make ourselves look good?  I actually experienced a good example of this myself.  I became involved with a group who feed the homeless in our area monthly.  The first time I went, it was amazing that we fed over 100 people and each person who came through the line said close to the same thing, "Thank you for coming and feeding us."   My friend who accompanied the group also mentioned afterwards that there was something we did not do correctly.  I thought things went well, so I questioned that statement.  Of course, my own answer to these people, along with everyone else who was there, was the standard "You're Welcome."  This was what we did wrong that night.

Receiving all the "thank yous" and responding with "you're welcome" simply took the praise and glory for ourselves.  Our response should have been, "Jesus loves you."  This would have put the praise and glory where it belonged.  It was most certainly through God's provisions that we were able to purchase the necessary supplies and food to feed that many people.  But, instead of directing the praise and glory in the proper direction, we simply took it for ourselves.

In verse 38 of John 1, it states that when when Jesus saw John's two disciples following Him, He asked, "What do you want?"

So, I will now take some time and think this over - specifically that question - what do I want?  Do I want to follow Jesus for the right reasons or do I want to follow Jesus for the wrong reasons?  Do I want to advance His cause or my own?