The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
John's disciples were his devoted students who had been following him. They were loyal to John, and John to them. The moment John announced that he saw Jesus, John's disciples left to follow Jesus. Andrew and Simon Peter had devoted their lives to John and his teachings. And because they had followed John, they knew he spoke the truth about Jesus. And so they left to follow the person they knew would be the greatest Teacher to ever walk the earth. And was John angry or disappointed about his disciples leaving him for another teacher in an instant? No. He did not stop them. He let his disciples move on to learn what he could never hope to teach.
We can take both John and his disciples, Andrew and Simon Peter, as examples for ourselves. We can be like Andrew and Simon Peter. We need to realize when we need to stop following the earthly teachings we are relying on. It does not matter whether the earthy "teacher," I use this term loosely (pastor, radio, TV, friends, internet, etc), is good or bad. An earthly "teacher" is barely qualified to teach how to live on earth. And when you get on the subjects of "eternal life" and "life after death" that earthly teacher won't have very good answers for you. Which is why we must turn to God and His teachings. Only God has complete guidance for this life and the next.
John himself can also be an example for us to follow. If you are a teacher of the Word, push your pupils to read God's Word for themselves. God wants to teach them something too. And He knows them better than you, so He knows what they need to learn. But the example can be taken another way. That we can't take the place of God for anyone we know. John saw that God wanted Andrew and Simon Peter, so he let God have them. John refused to stand in the way of God's working through his disciples. If we see that we might get in the way of God's work, we need to step aside. That sounds a lot easier in words. But it can mean sacrificing something you really want. Say you are dating someone you really care about. But you notice that they are relying on you as their main source of strength, love, etc. You love them, but you know that if you stay together, the other person will drift away from God. It can be hard to let go, but if God wants that person, He has a reason.
Taking in all of this, it's clear that the best thing to do is to have God become the biggest part of our lives. If we make God the biggest part of our lives and focus on our relationship with Him, He becomes the focus within our other relationships. From experience, I can honestly say that with God at the center, your relationships with everyone in your life are made stronger and more Love based. It is a gain to let God control you relationships, not a loss. After all, God loves us more than we can ever know; He knows more about relationships than anyone on earth.
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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