February 10
"The question asked during the Saviour's ministry, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" does not indicate that Jesus was unable to read, but merely that He had not received a rabbinical education. John 7:15. Since He gained knowledge as we may do, His intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures shows how diligently His early years were given to the study of God's word. And spread out before Him was the great library of God's created works. He who had made all things studied the lessons which His own hand had written in earth and sea and sky. Apart from the unholy ways of the world, He gathered stores of scientific knowledge from nature. He studied the life of plants and animals, and the life of man. From His earliest years He was possessed of one purpose; He lived to bless others. For this He found resources in nature; new ideas of ways and means flashed into His mind as He studied plant life and animal life. Continually He was seeking to draw from things seen illustrations by which to present the living oracles of God. The parables by which, during His ministry, He loved to teach His lessons of truth show how open His spirit was to the influences of nature, and how He had gathered the spiritual teaching from the surroundings of His daily life."
Desire of Ages, page 70 from the chapter, 'As a child'
My garden this morning was a picture. True, the path was still wet, but the first sight of crocii, the different brassica and the busy birds stocking up on food for the day was a sight to behold. There were at least 6 different birds clustered on the 6 different feeders (if you count the wagtail feeding on scraps fallen on the ground.
As I travelled home this evening the moon was high in the sky and Jupiter was high in the sky – even I could see three of it’s moons.
One news bulletin featured the comments of a senior weather scientist describing the physics behind the appalling weather some parts of our beautiful country are experiencing.
While Jesus could not have access to the information I have when He was a youngster it is certain that he took note of all that was going on around Him, reminded Himself of the greatness of God and then passed those lessons on in later life.
We are still reminded of those lessons in the parables – as long as we read them for ourselves. You could try this link to an excellent book called ‘Christ’s Object Lessons’.
There is something else you could try for yourself. Look around you. Try and take a walk instead of sitting at your desk taking a break. Look out of your window. Like Jesus you could,
“ … stud(y) the lessons which His own hand had written in earth and sea and sky. Apart from the unholy ways of the world, He gathered stores of scientific knowledge from nature.”
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Housekeeping details for you
The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.
A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here
