The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.’ John 9:30 (NIV)
Here is a man who has come into contact with Jesus for the first time. He is a changed man. He has been restored to health. He is excited. He is free to set his life to following Christ. This is just what he wants to do. He wants to become a disciple of Jesus. He has experienced wonderful workings of God in his life. Now he wants to get to know his Lord. But not everyone feels the same as he does. Not everyone wants to lay down their own practices to follow Jesus. There are others who are not really ready to become disciples of Jesus. Even some people who are in prominent positions in the religious scene are happy where they are. They may stand in his way. They may hinder or discourage the new believer from pursuing any more personal dealings. They would channel him back to a comfortable system of worship. They would hold him back from further experiencing Jesus.
The newly saved man exclaims how remarkable it is that the very people, who should know and recognize the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus, would turn to a lower goal. He cannot believe that it is not their highest priority to bring themselves and everyone else to where God is at work. He is astonished that people don´t come running to Christ. Is this problem unique only to him in his day? Or is this something that still happens in even the best of congregations today?
We have a responsibility as believers. We don´t know who we will come into contact with. Does it matter if we hold high positions in our church, or are new followers ourselves? Do we all need to be very careful of what example we give to those around us? Do we need to point all people first to God? Should we be showing them by the way we think and move, that a personal relationship with the Divine is to be sought above all else? If we are not careful, could someone else´s faith suffer a fatal blow? Could someone else settle for a religion empty of personal contact with the Lord? Could some unsuspecting young believer come into our church or into our faith and think that they have everything covered? Could someone slip into Christianity without ever suspecting that they should come to know Christ themselves? When someone remarks about our faith, what will they be able to say?
Dear Jesus, we come to You first. We come personally before You. We want to come to know You intimately that it shows. We want our relationship with You to flourish! We want our closeness to You and our love for You to be what inspires those around us! We want others to see us and want what we have with You! Let our intimate knowledge and experience with You be what others find remarkable about us! Draw us that close to You today we pray!
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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