In our last visit we considered the importance of all Christians, especially leaders in the church, following Jesus’ example in being Love Driven in their lives and ministry. Now as we continue our study of John 13 let’s look at the second point in the outline we developed: Jesus was Knowledge Directed, and so should we be if we want our lives to count for God.
What do I mean by being Knowledge Directed? Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians, 1:9-10; “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.”
Jesus clearly lived His life that way. Listen to John 13:1, “Jesus knew that the time had come.” The time for what? For His mission to be fulfilled. For His disciples to experience “the full extent of his love.” He was like the sons of Issachar who understood the times and knew what should be done (1 Chronicles 12:32). If we want to fulfill what God has called us to be and do we need to understand the times we live in and strategically plan what needs to be done and when.
Secondly, in John 13:3 it says that “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” He knew who He was and what He was called to by His heavenly Father.
It is important to know who we are if we’re going to fulfill our mission and not be sidetracked by what others might think of us or what we are doing.
