It seems John, the apostle, gets excited in his first chapter as he introduces Jesus and John the Baptizer. He seems to switch back and forth between them, almost tripping over his own feet. There is so much to tell! It is all so important!

That is how I began to feel about this chapter the more I read it. John introduces the Word, who is God and was with God in the beginning. He is the life and Light come into the world. He made everything and everyone… yet is known by none; recognized by no one, rejected by most.

Enter John, sent from God. His task is to announce the coming of this One who is God, who is coming as a man among us. This is no ordinary appearance. We must get ready for Him.

I find it fascinating that, though John (the Baptizer) grew up knowing Jesus (he was a relative), and he had a sense of Jesus being above the need to repent and be baptized (Matthew 3: 13-15), he didn’t know that Jesus was the coming, promised Messiah until he saw on Jesus the identifying sign given him by God. It was when he saw the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, “descending and remaining on Him”, John knew and announced “this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:33-34).

What an exciting moment that was! All John had lived for was folded into that moment, that revelation. The Messiah had come and John was His forerunner, His herald, to tell everyone “This is The One! Get your hearts and lives ready before God to receive the promised King!”

Jesus came and no one expected Him. That is, they didn’t recognize He was the One who would be the fulfillment of all God’s prophecies about the coming Deliverer. Their preconceived notions about their God and His Savior blinded their eyes to the truth.

But there were some who were waiting, looking for the Messiah, and when John announced His arrival, they lit out after Him.

“Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus….One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him,was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘we have found the Messiah’ (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus…” (John 1:35-37, 40-42).

I’ve always loved this about Andrew; I’ve always wished I were more like him. He was spiritually attune, waiting and watching, ready to leave home and family in pursuit of the Messiah, his great heartbeat. He became a disciple of John in anticipation of discovering and following the Messiah. His heart resonated with the message of John the Baptizer. As far as we can tell from this account, he was one of Jesus’ first followers. And he was vocal in announcing he had found the promised Messiah and went to get others to follow too. His first stop was his own family: Simon Peter.

I want to be one who is spiritually attuned to God, to recognize Jesus when He comes. How so, when Jesus already “came”? He speaks in the Word of God, and I need to recognize His voice and obey. He comes into my life in strange disguises; I do not want to reject Him because of my preconceived notions, my spiritual blindness to God and his truth.

Just because I once put my faith in Jesus to forgive my sins and give me eternal life; just because I do all the acceptable external acts such as church attendance and reading of my Bible and even prayer; just because I do these things, doesn’t mean my heart is in tune with God.

Israel, as a nation, did all the right religious acts but broke God’s heart and brought down His wrath on them because they persisted in living a double life, doing abominable things the world around them did and acting like it was nothing; stopping their ears to the voice of God through His prophets.

Today we can be just like that, and I do not want to be like that! Reading the Old Testament is eye opening and instructive. It was given us so we would learn not to act the way others had who called themselves by the Name of God and lived in disobedience to Him.

It is also instructive to learn from reading the Old Testament God loves those who love and fear Him, whose hearts are humble toward God and kind toward other people. The way of God is so pure, clean and refreshing…these are the inner feelings I’ve had often when I read the goodness of His ways in scripture. Those who seek after Him know His goodness and kindness. Being in the word of God helps give perspective and keep my heart attuned to God.

This is where Andrew was. Those who seek after the Lord with all their hearts, like Andrew, will be able to recognize and so follow that Lord.

Jesus went on to gather more disciples, those learners and followers who were with Him for the next three years, and who became the backbone of the fledgling church Jesus left when he returned to heaven and His Father.

He is still gathering those whose hearts yearn for Him, for the living God. He is still saying “Follow Me”, still teaching His disciples, the learners of His ways. He is like that train which runs through my yard and the nearby towns, calling with every blast of the train whistle, “Get on board!”

Get on board.