March 18

     The doctors turned upon Him with questions, and they were amazed at His answers. With the humility of a child He repeated the words of Scripture, giving them a depth of meaning that the wise men had not conceived of. If followed, the lines of truth He pointed out would have worked a reformation in the religion of the day. A deep interest in spiritual things would have been awakened; and when Jesus began His ministry, many would have been prepared to receive Him.

     The rabbis knew that Jesus had not been instructed in their schools; yet His understanding of the prophecies far exceeded theirs. In this thoughtful Galilean boy they discerned great promise. They desired to gain Him as a student, that He might become a teacher in Israel. They wanted to have charge of His education, feeling that a mind so original must be brought under their moulding.

         Desire of Ages, page 78 from the chapter, 'The Passover visit'

     “ …. If followed.” The Rabbis did not follow up what they were learning as you might guess. Take note that Jesus is outlining a process that … if followed, would have brought people closer to God.

     We ought to take a short review here. We aren’t just reading a blog because we want to start our day with a few spiritual words. The primary aim is to use the time together to invite the Holy Spirit to equip us for spiritual growth and evangelism. We have prayer partners to encourage us to develop relationships with friends who we might encourage to join us in our relationship with God.

     “If followed, the lines of truth He (Jesus) pointed out would have worked a reformation in the religion of the day.” There is a process as we encourage people to come close to God. The process might start with questions, it could begin with filling someone’s needs. The process could develop over time to the point when people decide that they are so impressed with your relationship with God that they want to ‘receive Jesus’ just like you have.

     Jesus started the process of reformation with a few simple questions. How could you start a relationship that might lead to a deeper relationship with God?

     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