40 Days of Lent - Evening Day 2

Evening – Day 2

“But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.” John 12:10-11

One of my favorite christian songs of the ’90s was “A Man You Would Write About” by 4HIM. It had a real impact on my faith and life. It talks about heros of faith in the Bible and poses the idea that if the Bible was still being written today, would I be the kind of man that they would write about?

From the time time began You
Always chose a man
To lead the people safely by Your
Way
To be a voice and echo what You
Say
Like David or Abraham
Your Word is full of such men
And if the Bible had no closing
Page
And still was being written to
This day

(Chorus)

I want to be a man that you
Would write about
Oh a thousand years from now
That they could read about
Your servant of choice in whom
You found favor
A man who heard Your voice
Generations away it is my prayer
That they will look back and say
Oh to have that kind of faith
And love
What a solid man of God he was

4HIM – A Man You Would Write About ©1991

The scripture is full of people who did great things for God and had an impact on history and in the lives of people. Story after story regale the exploits of men and women of great faith. It’s easy to focus on the big things people did and how great their faith was and miss what was important about them. If all we see are the awesome things people did we might find it hard to measure up. We may wonder how will my life count for God.

In today’s passage (John 12:1-11) we come to verse 11 where we are told that because of Lazarus, many Jews were turning and believing in Jesus. It is interesting to me that beyond Lazarus being raised from the dead, which is a pretty significant event, we don’t hear about anything that he did. There are no great exploits. There is no discussion about his great faith. There is really nothing about him other than he and his two sisters were very close to Jesus and Jesus spent intimate time with them. In this passage where Jesus knows He is on His way to the cross, He chooses to go and stay at Lazarus’ house and have supper with them. It was clear that there was a special closeness and love between them.

While I love the song above that makes me think about being a man who does great things and has great faith that someone might write about; I think I would like to be like Lazarus. Because of the impact Jesus had in His relationship with Lazarus, people around Lazarus were moved to faith in Jesus by who he was and by what Jesus did in his life. I want people to see Jesus and what He has done in my life and not just the things I do. Lazarus seemed to be more focused on his relationship with Jesus and intimacy with Him and the nature outcome was evidence of Jesus’ work in him and they were moved to faith.

Haven’t you heard someone say “There is just something about him/her?” Or maybe you have spent time with someone and the way they live, talk or relate to you simple reveals Jesus.

I want people to write about me, “because of him, many people believed in Jesus.”

Does your life cause people to see Jesus? Do they see Jesus working in you? Do they see the impact of time spent with Him? Are they moved to believe?