Come and See

John 1:35-39a The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" "Come", He replied, "and you will see."  ​

When I first came to Christ, I was reassured that I needed only confess my sinfulness and accept Jesus as my Savior. After a short time, I began to receive a lot of 'you should really do this' or 'you really shouldn't do this'. Lots of new rules and regulations were added to the requirements for salvation. I was assured Jesus's sacrifice was enough for redemption of my soul but 'real Christians' had a whole list of rules to live by. 

The disciples of Jesus were not given that list. They were just invited to 'come and see'. His disciples followed Him day by day. They learned of His love and compassion and forgiveness. They learned Who He is and learned directly from His heart.  

They didn't change instantly. They learned how to live by following His example. Some of the disciples went from self-centered to being Jesus centered. They went from demanding the places of importance to giving their lives for Him. They had a complete change of focus. It was not from a list of do's and don'ts, it was from a deep, heartfelt commitment to the Messiah. 

Learning at the feet of Jesus is a lifetime commitment of learning Who He is. It is studying His word to find out how He thinks, how the depth of His love for us flows from Him through us to others. The more we learn of Him, the more we understand His plan for the world and us in particular.  

Ps 103:7 tells us He showed His acts to Israel and His ways to Moses. Moses wanted to learn all about Who God is and why He does what He does. It is the difference between knowing the dates from history and learning the causes of the events. When we love someone, we want to know all about that person. That is what God wants us to feel about Him. He calls us the apple of His eye. He loves us.