Who Will You Meet Today?

 

I used to travel a lot for work. I was on a plane about once per week. On a few occasions, I sat next to someone famous. I didn’t recognize who they were until we started talking, because I never expected to meet anyone who was well-known and so I wasn’t really paying close attention.

 

I’ve wondered from time to time what it would have been like for the people in Nazareth who knew Jesus before He started His ministry. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about this time in Jesus’ life other than to say that He was a carpenter and that He “… grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52).

 

When Jesus began His ministry and returned to Nazareth, the people were amazed at His teaching. But “…they took offense at him” (Mk 6:6) because they still saw Him as just a carpenter. As a result, Jesus “…could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them” (Mk 6:5). The people of His hometown couldn’t recognize Jesus for who He was because they refused to look deeper than their superficial knowledge of Him.

 

You will probably interact with a number of people in this coming week. Will you see Jesus in them? Will you allow the Spirit that dwells within you to touch them? Or will you just deal with them superficially and never recognize whose presence you missed? Resolve to bring the love of God to all those you meet this week and be open to what God is bringing to you through them.