The Book of JesUS—The Great Gospelling Adventure of Life

CONSECRATE Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.  Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you.  Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.  HEAR John 21:24–25 ESV This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. CONSIDER “It is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim in it.” This statement by Augustine is where we began in our contemplation of the words that comprise the fourth gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Today we come to the end, and we are still talking about words. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. If we add it all up, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we come to 89 chapters, comprising 3,779 verses, made up by 83,680 words. And then there are my words about the words of the Gospels, which are not even worthy of being counted. And as good as all of these words of the Gospels are, they still remain words, which in the end are not enough.  The greatest peril of the whole project is that we somehow allow the Word to remain at the level of words. If you ask me to land on one verse in the whole gospel—indeed, the whole Bible—that held the greatest importance, I think I could do it. I’ll take it a step further and narrow it down to one sentence. You are probably thinking I’m going to land on John 3:16. That would be a contender for sure, but I've got one that even encompasses that one. Here’s my choice: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14a). And I think you see where this is heading. As Jesus was and is, so we are and shall become—words becoming flesh. That’s why we are doing this every single day, not to learn more words, but so that the Word might become flesh in us—in me and in you. All that said, which is still just more words, the most challenging word from today’s text for me is this one: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. We get the feeling John (as well as the other Gospel writers) has only given us a sample. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. After all these chapters and verses and words, it's time for you and me to let Jesus write the story of our lives by the grace and glory of his life. Let's call it The Book of JesUS—The Great Gospelling Adventure of Life.  "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14a) PRAY Abba Father, we thank you for your Son, Jesus, who is forever and always the Word made flesh. Thank you, that he makes his dwelling not only among us, but within us. Thank you for these Gospel writers and their faithfulness to receive these revealed words and to write them down. Thank you especially for Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit, and cause the Word to become flesh in my life and in our lives together. Make of our lives a great Gospelling adventure. We pray in Jesus’s name, amen.