October 24, 2019

BIBLE READING JOHN 7

John 7:16-18 (KJV)
16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

This is a precarious moment in Jesus’s ministry. The Jews are seeking to kill him. Jesus sends his disciples to an important yearly feast without him, and then Jesus secretly attended. During the feast Jesus went into the temple to teach. By earthly standards this is a risky move with people out to kill him, it must have been important what he had to say.

He is speaking of knowing if someone is truly from God. He tells them the words he says are of God. To be fair everything He said is of God, because He is God. But I believe this passage is important for us.

How often in our daily lives do we speak of ourselves? It’s easy to be focused on our own world. Jesus said if we speak of our own selves we seek our own glory. We want people to think well of us. The problem is God didn’t call us for our own glory. He called us to lift Him up.

If we are to bring God glory he must be preeminent in our lives. He must be what we think about. If we are thinking of Him we will talk about Him. Luke 6:45b says “for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” To be honest I fall short of this standard. We should be singularly focused daily to be meditating on God words so our words can bring Him glory.

Jacob Jarriel