A Larry Clegg

I used to love playing Hide-and-Seek. And I was really good at hiding.   For one thing, I was a SMALL kid. For another, I have very loose joints, which makes me quite flexible, so I could hide in spaces so small you would think there’s no way I could hide in there. My favorite thing to do when the searcher would give up was to sneak out of my hiding place and move away from it so nobody would see where it was and I could use it later. Only then would I call out, “Here I am!” To give myself away.   I want to take a look at a few people in the Bible who said, “Here I am.”   Genesis 21 tells us the story of Abraham and his son Isaac. God had promised Abraham a son, and it wasn’t until Abraham was 100 years old that God delivered on that promise. Then God told Abraham to take his son – his ONLY son – up on a mountain and offer his son as a sacrifice offering to God. Abraham must have been devastated, but he followed what God was telling him to do. When they ...

John built his story of Jesus around seven "signs" and seven "I am" statements. The 7 Signs in the Gospel of John   John took a symbolic approach to Jesus' miracles. He used the term "signs" to emphasize that these acts point to something beyond the physical miracles themselves.  As John stated in 20:30–31, "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples... but these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God." These seven signs serve as invitations to choose between faith and opposition. Here is a quick run-through of the seven signs : 1. Water Turned to Wine (John 2:1–11) At a wedding in Cana, Jesus turns water into wine. This first sign reveals Jesus' power over creation. It introduces the themes of abundance and grace. It also sets the tone for John's Gospel: Jesus doesn't just meet needs; he exceeds them. Side note: This reminds me of the Plague of Blood in E...