To Encourage You

John 7:46 “No one ever spoke like this man!”

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him speak?  What must it have been like to hear from the lips of this one who knows everything, and who is Wisdom, Virtue, and Love incarnate?  Jesus never said anything that wasn’t necessary for the ones who heard it, for He knew what was in the heart of every person, and knew perfectly what they needed to hear. He knew if they needed to be corrected, comforted, encouraged, advised, and otherwise instructed in how to live or how to live better.

Jesus often answered a person’s thoughts before they even spoke.  As such He demonstrated that the He knows what we need even before we ask (Matthew 6:8).  Jesus always spoke the truth; He never shaded the truth, or spoke in half-truths, and He never lied.  He didn’t gossip. He didn’t talk behind someone’s back. He never cursed, or spoke before thinking; He was never rash.  And he spoke with authority – what he said was the way things truly were, had been, or would be. 

People were transfixed by Him. They were astonished at His teaching (Matthew 7:28).  Once Jesus informed those who listened to Him “The Queen of the South (i.e., the Queen of Sheba) will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here (Matthew 12:42).”  He said this because there were many, in spite of Who He was, who never really listened to Him, or at least never took seriously the things He said. It will be to their eternal regret that they missed such an opportunity to listen to God’s word. 

An amazing truth, however, is that we can sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him now, for He has given us His words in the pages of the Bible.  Like those who heard Him speak to them personally in the first century, we can be sure that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of Godmay be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).”  As we are told in Psalm 19, this word of God is: “perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” 

What about you, are you sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to His Word.  To fail to do this is one of the greatest lost opportunities any person can ever experience.  As Jesus said often “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  May God give us the wisdom to heed this God-given advice.