Scripture Reading: John 4:43-54
After leaving Sychar, Jesus seems to have gone at once to Cana. He never rested. When His work was done in one place He hastened to another. He was never in a hurry, never flustered, never feverish in His haste, but He never loitered nor lost a moment’s time. If we keep our heart at peace, and live according to God’s laws, there is little danger of our injuring our health by too much work. Then, even if duty demands serious toil and self-denying labor, it is Christlike not to withhold ourselves from it. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it.” Taking too good care of oneself is the way to make the least of one’s life.
Jesus was no exception to the well-known rule that “A prophet hath no honor in his own country.” It is a common saying that no man is a hero to his own servant. Those who live in familiar relations with the great or the good are the least likely to recognize the elements of greatness or goodness in them. Many of the men whose names shine in the galaxy of fame, and whose work lives in the world with undying influence, had little honor from those among whom they walked, and perhaps would have little honor today if they were to return and live in the old relations. We often fail to recognize the true excellence of our best friends while they stay with us. It is not until she is gone out of a home that a mother’s real value is appreciated. The same is true of each member of the household and of each friend upon whom we lean much and whose life is a great deal to us. Jesus walked among the people in Judea, taught, produced His miracles, and lived out His sweet, beautiful life of love in their midst, but they failed to recognize the Messiah in Him. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (1:10, 11). We are in danger in these very days of failing to appreciate the blessings of Christianity because they are so familiar to us.
Page 1