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³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

John 1:35-42

Devotional

One of the most difficult challenges in our faith journey with Christ involves sharing our stories with family members. Often Christians will say that it is easier to share the gospel and to share their changed life because of Christ with a stranger, co-worker, or new friend than with a family member.

There are many different reasons for this difficulty of sharing with family members, including predictable familiarity, relational history, family tension, differing worldviews, and others. In our devotional passage for Day 5, we see that Andrew loves and cares for his brother deeply. The text states that the first thing Andrew did was to go find his brother and tell Simon Peter about Jesus. He didn’t just tell Peter about Christ; he brought Peter to Christ (v.41).

Inviting family members to church or sharing the gospel with family members will often stretch our faith and challenge our courage. John starts off his gospel with this story of one brother leading another brother to Christ. John does this because he wants his readers to know that we should be bold and faithful storytellers of our changed life in Christ with our family, even when it might pull us out of our comfort zones and thrust us into new territory. We must step out on faith and trust the Lord with the fruit of those encounters. Risk is definitely involved, but the Holy Spirit is with us.

Reflect

• Is there an immediate or extended family member that the Lord has placed on your heart to invite to church or to share your story?
• What about this devotional passage from John 1 stands out to you about Andrew?

Pray

• Pray for any family members that the Lord has placed on your heart and mind.
• Pray for the Lord to prepare and soften their hearts and minds to listen and for the Lord to strengthen your heart and mind to be courageous, gracious, and loving as you invite them to church and/or share your story with them.