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By Mike Caton

John 7:26, Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?

This is still some of the people of Jerusalem speaking about Jesus. They have heard, probably through the grapevine, that some of the religious leaders are looking to kill Jesus. And yet, they see him every day, teaching in the temple courts. Jesus is certainly not trying to hide himself, not trying to avoid his enemies and he is still teaching the same things that he has been teaching all along. That makes the people wonder.

Are they no longer trying to kill him, do they no longer want him? And the next logical conclusion is, have they concluded he is the Messiah? That is an interesting thought from these folks, whoever they are. This is not really about their conclusions, but about the decisions of the leaders. The common folks are wondering about the leaders. Don’t we often wonder what other folks are thinking? We see them do things that we simply cannot figure out. It appears, from our perspective at least, that they are making no sense at all. And we want to know what their thought process is, what are they seeing that we don’t see? What do they know that we don’t know? What have they heard that we have not heard? And maybe, it might cause us to doubt our own decisions.

But we cannot base our decisions, our choices, our commitments simply on what others are doing. We have to dig in and find the evidence for ourselves. We need to investigate for the facts, not hearsay, not rumors, not others’ ideas. Sure, other people do influence us, we want to know what the people we respect are doing. But ultimately, we are responsible for our own decisions. There is no place this is truer than in our relation to Jesus Christ. We are not going to be saved based on our parent’s faith, our children’s faith, our neighbor’s faith, or our preacher’s faith. We have to weigh the evidence and decide for ourselves. What others decide might give us information, but the final choice is ours.

Father, help me increase my faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works part time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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