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Daily Devotion: John 8:59 and 9:1

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John 8:59    "Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."

John 9:1    "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth."

I must say that I am thankful to whoever went through the Bible and numbered the chapters and verses. It makes it very convenient for us, doesn't it? But at the same time, we often stop at the end of one chapter, when the story is not completed at that point. Today's verses, in my opinion, are one such instance in Scripture.

At the end of chapter 8, the people took up stones to try to stone Jesus. As we have noted on more than one occasion, it was not yet Jesus' time to be offered. When the people grew angry and took up the stones, Jesus went through the crowd and "passed by" them. He, the Son of God, was not welcomed by the people, so He left them. He walked out of the temple and "passed by" this group of people. Grouping chapter 8:59 and chapter 9:1, we find these words: "Jesus... went out of the temple... and so passed by. And as Jesus passed by...."

Jesus was not going to stop His work simply because one group of people did not want Him in their midst. His work was going to continue and He would find someone in need. His passing by one group did not discourage Him nor dissuade Him from His work. We will look at the work done for this man who was born blind, but for now I want us to think about this scene and our lives. A few chapters ago, we saw Jesus in the storm walking on the water to the disciples in the boat. In Mark's account of this, he specifically made mention that the disciples saw Jesus "walking on the sea and would have passed them by." It was at that point that the disciples cried out to Jesus that He might help them in the storm.

What is the importance of this phrase in our lives? Let me look at Scripture to try to answer this question. We read in James 4:2, "ye have not, because ye ask not." As I think upon this today, I ask myself how many blessings have I missed because I refused to ask. How many times has Jesus passed by me. I assure you Jesus is not going to discontinue His purpose just because I am stubborn in my own will. He will bestow the blessing upon another. His purpose will be accomplished. He does not rely upon this little stubborn southern red-clay boy. I have no doubt missed much joy in my life because I went my way instead of the way of the KING of kings and LORD of lords.

My thought for today is this: May we cry out to the Lord of glory that His blessings would fall on us in service unto Him.

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