Jesus’ first words in the Gospel of John

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John we read of a day when Jesus passes by John the Baptist and two of his disciples. Seeing Jesus, John the Baptist immediately says to his two disciples, “Look, the lamb of God.”

John’s two disciples started following Jesus. When Jesus noticed them, he turned and asked them, “What do you want?”

“What do you want?” are Jesus’ first words in the Gospel of John.

I love what questions. They quickly get you right down to where the tire hits the road. Last week I was meeting with a 45-year-old pastor who said he is tired of his ministry. In fact, he’s not even sure he wants to be a pastor any more.

He said, “Tell you the truth, at this point, I’m not sure I was ever called to become a pastor, even though I have been a pastor more than 15 years.”

“Wow,” I said. “That’s quite a statement. I have a question for you. Do you know what you want?”

He was quiet for a few seconds and then said, “Hmm… I guess I don’t really know.”

Some times when life come right at us we get confused and stressed out and frankly, we don’t know what we think or what we want.

But if we can try and quiet our spirit — our inner person — and try to come into the Lord’s presence, I think there’s a good chance we may just hear him say, “My son, my daughter, I love you. I’m not mad at you. I don’t love you any less. What do you really want?“

If we can discover what we want, or, more specifically, what we believe God wants for us — I pray that we can; I believe we can; I hope we can — well, we’re on the right road.

That’s why “What do you want?” is such a great question and one worth asking and pursuing over and over as we travel along the narrow road of life.