August 10, 2023
Passage Read: John 7-8
Meditation Verse: 7:4
Thought
Jesus is doing things and gathering crowds, so that it seems obvious to everyone that He wants to be a public figure, to be famous. But He also keeps telling people He heals not to tell about Him. Jesus is surrounded by crowds almost every time He heals someone, what's the use of telling people not to tell who He is? But Jesus isn't trying to be a public figure, He's not seeking attention for Himself for the sake of seeking attention. He lives to do His Father's will. Late in the next chapter He says He's not seeking glory for Himself, but is actually seeking to secure glory for His Father. That's why His actions seem so inconsistent. He looks like He wants to be famous, but He's just trying to help people know and get into a right relationship with His Father. He seeks glory only from His Father, not from men.
Application
It is a trap to have people gather around you and say all kinds of wonderful things about you. It is so easy to fall into that trap, believing what people say of you and becoming addicted to the attention and praise. One can easily start out seeking to glorify God and Jesus Christ, but then become caught up in the attention and praise of the crowds that gather, and lose sight of the original goal. Jesus could maintain His focus, but for the rest of us, it is a dangerous thing. I need to guard my own heart and make sure my motivation is to teach others about Jesus and see them grow in their relationship with Him, not gather a bunch of groupies around myself to inflate my own ego.