John 14:12 is ridiculous, even for the fervent believer. It's Jesus talking, so I know I should believe it. He says whoever has faith in Him will do greater things than Him. Let's just make a little mental list right here.
Jesus: healing the sick, recovering the sight of the blind, raising the dead, including Himself, and making massive amounts of food out of small lunches.
Me: giving my kids Tylenol when they're sick, telling my wife where her glasses are, waking up sleepy children, and making a pretty tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I'll go ahead and say it. I think Jesus' list is more impressive. It just is. Although it is a really good pb&j. But Jesus said I would do greater things. I was talking with my wife about this stuff going through my head and she agreed that it seemed implausible that I would do something greater than Jesus. We were discussing this during supper and then I looked at the time. We had one hour to finish putting laundry away, do the dishes, bathe the children, brush their teeth and get them into bed at bedtime. Emphasis on bedtime. It's not a feat we accomplish very often.
We did a quick mental review and realized there is no recorded event of Jesus doing this, so we thought this might be our chance to put faith into action. (Cue the Chris Tomlin music for God of This City.)
Dish soap was flying, clothes were folded and with only 2 minutes to go, we had only to convince a 2-year old that she did, in fact, wish to go to sleep. Praying with them at precisely 8 o'clock, we smiled a satisfied smile at one another. (Does it count against the miracle if they kept coming back out for one more drink?)
I could get used to doing greater things.
Jesus: healing the sick, recovering the sight of the blind, raising the dead, including Himself, and making massive amounts of food out of small lunches.
Me: giving my kids Tylenol when they're sick, telling my wife where her glasses are, waking up sleepy children, and making a pretty tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I'll go ahead and say it. I think Jesus' list is more impressive. It just is. Although it is a really good pb&j. But Jesus said I would do greater things. I was talking with my wife about this stuff going through my head and she agreed that it seemed implausible that I would do something greater than Jesus. We were discussing this during supper and then I looked at the time. We had one hour to finish putting laundry away, do the dishes, bathe the children, brush their teeth and get them into bed at bedtime. Emphasis on bedtime. It's not a feat we accomplish very often.
We did a quick mental review and realized there is no recorded event of Jesus doing this, so we thought this might be our chance to put faith into action. (Cue the Chris Tomlin music for God of This City.)
Dish soap was flying, clothes were folded and with only 2 minutes to go, we had only to convince a 2-year old that she did, in fact, wish to go to sleep. Praying with them at precisely 8 o'clock, we smiled a satisfied smile at one another. (Does it count against the miracle if they kept coming back out for one more drink?)
I could get used to doing greater things.
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