Come and See

by Henry and Richard Blackaby, Being Still With God Every Day

Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” — John 1:46

It’s not enough to know what the Scriptures say about Jesus, study the doctrines concerning Him, or ponder His teaching.

There’s only one way to really know Jesus: we must follow Philip’s advice and experience Jesus for ourselves.

That’s because Christianity is essentially a relationship with a Person. What we experience as we follow Jesus inspires us to love Him, share His truth, and continue following Him.

John told of a blind man healed by Jesus — on the Sabbath. The Jews, outraged that Jesus would violate the law and commit such a flagrant sin, confronted the man about who Jesus was. The man’s answer was straightforward:

Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see. — John 9:25

The healed man did not have all of the doctrinal answers. But one thing he did have was a life-changing encounter with Jesus. We may not be able to respond to all the critics or answer the cynics’ every question about our Lord. But we can, like the man Jesus healed, proclaim with confidence that “though I was blind, now I see.” Our relationship with Jesus has indeed changed our lives forever.

Do you sometimes feel like you aren’t qualified to be a witness of Jesus because you don’t know all the doctrinal answers? Do the questions that might be asked of you scare you off from sharing your faith? The truth is all we have to offer is our own story of conversion, healing, and the hope Jesus brought to our lives that changed everything forever. We can relate our own stories and see what God will do! answers.