Thursday, March 30, 2006

Convicted

Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” John 8:28-29

As I read through John 8 [being drawn to these two verses], I found myself both convicted and challenged.

I understood how even Jesus, being God Himself, did nothing of his own accord but everything He did came from following his Father--straight from his Father's teaching. I thought, "Gosh, Jesus is one third our triune God, and He certainly could have lived his life righteously on earth on his own... right? Wouldn't His holiness alone have kept him in his Father's will?"

So I read these verses again and saw that even though Jesus knew who he was... that very point (knowing who he was) was exactly what kept him seeking his Father and doing nothing of himself.

It convicted me because I saw such humility in how Jesus lived his life and an incredible depth of dependence of his Father... that I have yet to learn to live out daily.

It challenged me to really see myself for exactly who I am. Just like Jesus, I am a child of my Father. But can I say (just like Jesus)...

"that I do nothing of myself; but only as My Father teaches me"?