Quote for the Day
“… for me the right time has not yet come.”
Today's Prayer
This week ask the Father to allow HIS timing to rule in all actions and activities of your life.
John 7:1-13
John 7:1-13 (NIV)1 After this, Jesus went around in , purposely staying away from because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. 2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to , so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.6 Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” 9 Having said this, he stayed in .10 However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, “Where is that man?”12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
Message
When is the right time to be involved, to make a comment, to challenge a friend, or speak out against (or for) a topic or comment? This is a dilemma for most of us on a daily or even hourly basis. We live in a world that tends to believe that is the time, and you should stop waiting and do what YOU want… right . The culture, media, and business worlds we live in stress our rights to an opinion, and tell us that there is no better time than the present. The deeper the issue the more we struggle with the decision of what we should do. Jesus had many of those same decisions to make. When should he confront the leaders of the day? When should he perform a miracle for the crowd? Our passage today shows a time when his life was being threatened, and he was laying low, waiting for the Father to give direction on the next activity he was to be involved in. His own brothers taunted him with the need to perform a miracle in public.What is Jesus’ response to the pressure, the push to do what others wanted? It was simple, “I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” Jesus was confident of not only who he was but also when he should be doing specific activities. Jesus was totally at rest in the Father and knew the Father had a time and a place where all was to be accomplished. We too need to have that same confidence in the Father, to know when and where we are to be and what we are to do and say. There is only one way to have that confidence: by allowing Jesus to be THE power of our lives. Simply stated, Jesus is our life and the flesh has been replaced. The flesh will fail us every time; the Holy Spirit never. So let’s allow Jesus to be our life and stop trying to live out our hope and dreams on our own, and instead let Him live His through us. God is okay with silence and even patience, a couple of ideas that have been left behind by this word we live in today.
