For those of you who know me, you know that I have a couple of things right or wrong with me: I have one of the weirdest senses of humor around and I LOVE the Word of God. I love studying the Word; I love learning the Word; I love learning all that I can about the characters of the Word; I love reading the Word; and I love hearing the Word.
Because of this love of the Word, I sometimes find out the most astounding things in, about, and from the Word. I never cease to be amazed at how often I am amazed by His amazing grace and love and Word.
For example, I have been invited to speak at a Men’s Prayer breakfast this coming Saturday. I was given pretty much carte blanche as to the direction I could go for this talk. I could concentrate on my testimony, a word, or some sort of combination of the two, as long as I don’t concentrate on putting one denomination over another, and as long as it is uplifting.
Those parameters are simple enough for me and should be for anyone. I don’t believe in denominations and treat everyone as though they believe all of God’s Word. I also believe that God is Yes and Amen, not No and sorry for your bad luck.
As I was praying for direction and seeking God’s word for that bunch of guys on that particular morning, God reminded me of something He had taught me about 15 years ago. He even finished it for me. I love it when He does that. I received the first part of the word about 15 years ago and the second part of it this week. I love it when He reminds me that He is the beginning and the end!
About 11 years ago, I was teaching Sunday School here in a Methodist church.
We were going through the Book of Matthew, we spent some time in Chapter 16: 13-15. I read these verses out loud. All of a sudden, verse 15 leapt off the page at me. Jesus asked His followers this question: “Who do you say I am?” This question stirred something up deep inside me. I asked the students in the classroom “Who do you say He is?” Most importantly, I asked myself “Who do I say He is?”
Almost everyone in the class recognized Jesus as their Saviour. A few of them recognized Him as their baptizer in the Holy Spirit. One or two knew Him as their healer. Each of them knew Jesus in a different way. Each of them knew Him in different ways at different times in their lives. There were, unfortunately, one or two in the class who had not yet met Him as personal Saviour.
Yet each and every one of us had to ask ourselves the question: “Who do I say He is?” On that Sunday morning in May 1997, I came to believe that this question if one of the most important questions ever asked. I put it to you who are reading this – “Who do YOU say He is?”
As I was praying for God to show me what those men at the Men’s Breakfast next Saturday, He kept nudging me about that question I just discussed. He also added another question. The first question was a God-to-us question. The second one that He nudged me about was an us-to-God question.
In the sixth chapter of John, Jesus had just introduced a relatively new teaching to His followers, concerning His claim that He had come to earth from Heaven (vv.41-60). The Jews began to grumble about this teaching, saying that it was a hard teaching (v.60). They began to complain about how difficult this teaching was for them to accept.
Jesus, of course, was aware of their grumbling and murmuring. He then did what He usually did when confronted by murmuring – He took it on face-to-face. Verse 66 tells us that some of His disciples “turned back and no longer followed him”. In verse 67, He asked the twelve “You do not want to leave too, do you?”
Simon Peter answered Jesus with a very important question that we today still have to ask: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
2,000 years later, this question is still the most important question that we could ask of Him – to whom shall we go? Even non-believers must ask it. They try to go to their alcohol, drugs, sex, money, power, even family for the answer, but find nothing but emptiness and addiction. They look everywhere they can think of for “the answer”. Yet, the answer continues to elude them.
I pray that all of your non-believing friends and relatives ask that question of the One Who has the Answers while they are still able to – here, on this earth, before it is too late.
The most important question in the Bible for us to ask of Him – “To whom shall we go? YOU have the words of eternal life.”
In Him, Joe Kelley
