ODJ: there you are!
September 26, 2011
Come and see a Man who told me everything I ever did! (John 4:29).
READ: Mark 5:25-34
There are two kinds of people,” said advice columnist Abigail Van Buren. “Those who walk into a room and say, ‘There you are!’ and those who say, ‘Here I am!’”
The one Person who could have rightly declared, “Here I am,” seemed oddly reluctant to promote Himself. Jesus was much more interested in others. At His first miracle, He admonished His mother, “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4). Often He told the people He had healed: “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Mark 1:44).
But when He met individuals, Jesus had a disarming way of seeing into their souls. “Who touched My robe?” He asked, as a frightened woman who had brushed against His garment cowered nearby (v.30). Desperate and suffering from a 12-year physical condition, she wished to remain anonymous while accessing Jesus’ power. He, on the other hand, wanted a personal connection with her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well,” He said gently. “Go in peace” (v.34).
On another occasion, Jesus ignored the taboos of His day when He reached out at Jacob’s well in Samaria to a woman with a sketchy past (John 4:4-42). Not only was He alone with a woman (gasp!), He engaged her in conversation. In so doing, He shrewdly turned an innocuous request—“Please give Me a drink” (v.7)— into a bridge to the woman’s very soul (vv.17-19). It was as if her guard dropped and Jesus could suddenly say, “There you are!” Rather than recoiling at being “discovered,” the woman ran to the town to announce what had just happened (v.29).
As we learn to supplant “Here I am!” with “There you are!” we may find that we’re being used to spark discovery of God by others—reflecting the ways of Jesus Himself. —Tim Gustafson
Are you the kind of person who announces “Here I am”? Or “There you are”? Why? How will you strive to show your loving interest in others today for Jesus’ glory?
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