God's Catalogue

God’s Catalogue
John 17:20-26

Jesus Prays for All Believers
20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. —John 13:35
Tis the season to receive catalogs in the mail. Every trip to the mailbox ends with an armload of slick holiday catalogs. Each one claims to offer me something I need—immediately. “Don’t wait!” “Limited offer!” “Order now!”

The lure works. I open the pages to discover what I didn’t know I needed. Sure enough, I see things that suddenly seem essential, even though a few minutes earlier I didn’t know they existed. Manufacturers use catalog illustrations to create desire for their products.

In a way, Christians are God’s catalogs. We are His illustration to the world of what He has to offer. His work in our lives makes us a picture of qualities that people may not know they need or want until they see them at work in us.

Jesus prayed that His followers would be unified so the world would know that God sent Him and loved them as God loved Him (John 17:23). When Christ is alive in us, we become examples of God’s love. We can’t manufacture love. God is the manufacturer, and we are His workmanship.

As you browse holiday catalogs, consider what the “catalog” of your life says about God. Do people see qualities in you that make them long for God? — Julie Ackerman Link

What does the world see in us
That they can’t live without?
Do they see winsome qualities
And love that reaches out? —Sper
As a Christian, you are “God’s advertisement.” Do people want what they see in you?