Come And See
“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:5-11
Insight
When it comes to difficult tasks, building a house with a deck of cards ranks pretty high. Hours of delicate and precise work put into something that topples over by a simple breeze; talk about building a poor foundation.
Some of us have a faith that acts much like a house of cards. We may have built our faith off of “just believing.” But there will come a time when beliefs are shaken. If we are honest, it is a challenge to “just have faith” in a shepherd boy killing a 9 foot or so giant (1 Samuel 17), or a donkey speaking to a man (Numbers 22), or maybe even a virgin giving birth to the Messiah (Luke 2).
If you have walked away from faith, you are about to walk away, or you have never come to faith because of moments like this in the Bible, I want to let you know that it is okay. In fact, it is completely understandable why moments like these can trip you up; they should trip up the best of us. So, rather than view faith as the avenue to a relationship with Jesus, we should look at Jesus. Despite what you may have been told, people came to follow Jesus because they SAW and then BELIEVED.
Think about the disciples that walked and did life with Jesus here on earth. They initially followed Him because of faith, but they ended up committing their lives to Jesus because they saw Him die and come back to life. They became witnesses to something greater, and that something greater was worth building everything else upon.
The Church is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. He died for the sins of humanity and came back to life in order to give us new life. Paul wanted his readers to know that the Church is not the building, but the collection of those who have seen and now believe that Jesus is who He says He is. The movement of Jesus continued because eyewitnesses spoke the truth.
Jesus' followers were not challenging people to “come and believe.” They were challenging others to “come and see.” The invitation is the same for us today: come and see. The people in our lives will come and see Jesus by how we live. We continue the same work that Peter, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, James, and so many others did; being eyewitnesses to Jesus. Our initiation for the world around us is to see our Savior and the love He has for them.
Reflection
How can you use your life as an opportunity to reflect Jesus to the people in your life?
Who can you invite to come and see Jesus?
Prayer
Father, thank you for being my sure foundation. There is no greater foundation to build upon than Your life, death, and resurrection. As I go out into this world, I pray for Your life to be seen in my life. May other people be able to come and see You by the way I live. One glimpse of You and everything changes! I love you Father, and pray this all in Your holy name, Amen.
Port City writer Davy Nance wrote today’s devotional.
