John 1:48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."I ended up going to Matthew Henry's commentary to look more closely at this scripture and the verses around it. There is much more to this little exchange than meets the eye. In the verses preceeding this one, there is an exchange between Nathanael and Philip that indicates that these men have been studying the scripture and looking for the Messiah. When Nate says, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (v. 46), it may not simply mean that Nate thinks Nazareth is just a rinky-dink town of nobodies...although that could be part of it. More likely, he probably was very familiar with scriptures that indicate that the Messiah is to come out of Bethlehem.
In any case, Jesus was very familiar with Nathanael before they had even met. He already knew that Nate was a man to be commended for his integrity. By His very statement, Jesus proves to Nate his omniscience. Nate recognizes Jesus at once and exclaims, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." (v. 49)
So how does this tie into Chambers' devotional today? Ch talks about taking that time in private to spend getting to know the Lord.
The private relationship of worshiping God is the great essential of fitness.
Nate had done his homework; worshiping, praying, studying scripture: thereby getting to know God. He was then able to recognize who Jesus was and follow Him into a bigger ministry. He was ready to serve God because "in the unseen life which no one saw but God, he became fit."
Don't think for a minute that you will be strong enough to bear up under the pressure in tough times or be strong enough to serve Him effectively without having done that private and unseen homework first.
I leave you with 3 chambers quotes:
...big crisis will only reveal the stuff we are made of, it will not put anything into you.
If you have not been worshiping as occasion serves, when you get into work you will not only be useless yourself, but a tremendous hindrance to those who are associated with you.
The workshop of ministry munitions is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.
Photo by "the 5th Ape", creative commons flickr
I know I am growing but feel it is such a gradual climb that I may never reach the top. (That's honesty for today...) I appreciate the thoughts on Nathanael.It always appeared he made a complete about face, but maybe that is not really so. And, I think it awesome that Jesus meets us right where we are, that He knows us better than our best friends, and He is always there to give a clearer view of the big picture.
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