Day 12 Verses Memorized: 51 Working on: Completing John 1
My Progress: I'm thrilled with my progress so far. I've continued to review the previous verses I learned and my confidence is growing each time. I have a strong handle on the entire first chapter and will spend another few days making sure I have it down pat. Some of it is getting tricky because the same phrase repeats but the wording is slightly different. I really struggle with some of the dialogue because I can't remember if it's "said," "replied," "answered," etc. But either way, I'm happy with how far I've progressed in two weeks. I enjoy being ahead of schedule and feel good that I have a little insurance so if I get tripped up later, there is some room to relax without falling off my goal of 2 years.
Some Thoughts:
After spending a week memorizing verses that were leading up to Jesus' appearance, I was honestly excited to see Jesus coming into the picture. I got to the part that said "John saw Jesus" and my heart literally started beating faster. If that's how I felt after only a few days of just reading, I can't imagine how the actual people of that day felt when Jesus came for real! (Then I began to think, "you know, Heidi, you have access to Jesus ALL THE TIME!)
How cool was John the Baptist. I just admire him so much. The humility he had in pointing others toward Jesus and not focusing on himself is so admirable. I found it interesting that every time he sees Jesus, he says, "Look, the Lamb of God!" It just paints such a clear picture of how he directed everyone's attention to Jesus. As I was meditating on these verses, I kept questioning if my life points to Jesus in the same way that his did. Unfortunately, my answer was no.
Andrew and "the other disciple" (John) asked Jesus where He was staying and he said, "Come, and you will see." Jesus was inviting them to come and spend time with Him. He wanted them to get to know Him and build a relationship. Isn't that how God treats us today? I have to admit, sometimes I ask God a question and get angry and impatient when His focus is on the journey while mine is on the final result. If I were John or Andrew, I probably would've thought, "man, can't He just answer my question? Why doesn't He just tell me?" With Jesus, it's always about simply following, togetherness, closeness and an intimate, personal relationship. While I may sometimes struggle with that in my task-oriented spirit, I'm thankful that He is who He is.
Additional Thoughts:
So after spending hour upon hour of memorizing Scripture, I was getting very excited when Jesus finally came on the scene. I was expecting some deep philosophical life-changing words from the mouth of the Savior. So I have to admit I was slightly disappointed when the first words he said were, "what do you want?" It was a little anti-climactic for me. (I hope there are no ultra-conservative people out there reading this who take offense. I do indeed love God's word.)
The other morning I was doing my quiet time. I am an early riser, so it was around 5:00am and I was sitting on my nicely made bed. As I often do, I began drifting in and out of sleep. I got frustrated with myself and aggravated that I had gotten up, showered, and set aside time to spend with God only to fall asleep and waste the effort. So I prayed the usual prayer that I pray when this occurs, "God, please help me to be alert and stay focused on You." I am not exaggerating when I say: at that exact moment, I saw something out of the corner of my eye falling from the ceiling. I looked up just in time to hear a "thump" and see one of those million-legger bugs land right on the bed about 6 inches from my feet and begin racing in my direction. I instantly went from half-asleep to a full-body spasm as my arms and legs went flailing wildly in the air. I had to use my Bible as a weapon to ward off the ferocious beast, which is probably still happily living somewhere under the bed. Needless to say, be careful what you pray for! Very funny, God. Very funny...
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