Jesus turned, saw them following him, and asked, "What are you looking for?" They answered, "Where do you live, Rabbi?"
(This word means "Teacher.") "Come and see," he answered. (It was then about four o'clock in the afternoon.) So they went with him and saw where he lived, and spent the rest of that day with him. One of them was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. At once he found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah." (This word means "Christ.") Then he took Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "Your name is Simon son of John, but you will be called Cephas." (This is the same as Peter
and means "a rock.") The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Come with me!" (Philip was
from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter lived.)
Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of
the Law and whom the prophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth." "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," answered Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, "Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false
in him!" Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you when you were under
the fig tree before Philip called you." "Teacher," answered Nathanael, "you are the Son of God! You are the
King of Israel!" John 1:38-49
The ruler Hiero II asked Archimedes to find a method for determining whether a crown was pure gold or mixed with silver.
One day when Archimedes stepped into his bath and noticed that the water rose as he sat down, he ran out of the house naked shouting, "Eureka! Eureka!"
He had a Eureka moment. The word Eureka comes from the Greek word Heurisko meaning
(1) "to learn the location of something, either by intentional searching or by unexpected discovery;"
(2) "to learn something previously not known, frequently involving an element of surprise"
Archimedes did not "find" this truth by searching after it -- although he may have spent days thinking about a solution to the problem. His "find" came as an unexpected surprise. It's almost as if the truth found him more than he finding the truth. It was something that was there all the time. He may have noticed the rising bathtub water hundreds of times before, but its significance didn't "click" in his brain until that "eureka" moment.
The word “heurisko” is used 5 times in verses John 1:41-45. In John’s account of the call of the first disciples, the disciples were invited by Jesus or by one of the disciples to “come and see” ie to check Jesus out for themselves.
When they came and saw Jesus, they had a Eureka moment where they discovered something previously unknown: the discovered Jesus to be the Son of God, the Messiah, and the one that Moses and the Prophets had written about.
They encountered the Living God in the form of Jesus and had a Eureka moment. Their life was never the same again.
Can you remember your Eureka moment when you discovered Jesus as the one sent by God, the Son of God? Can you remember when you invited Jesus in to be your friend and master? What a great discovery that would have been!
For many of us who have been Christians for a long time, the Eureka moment is now history. Christian life is more mundane and very unexciting for most of it. Yet this should not be so.
Our God is a God of surprises where he wants to give us Eureka moments as we walk with Him.
Yet our attitude can be a huge stumbling block to receive those Eureka moments.
Nathaniel had the wrong attitude: can anything good come from Nazareth? This comment smacks of”
◦ Scepticism
1. (Philosophy) a person who habitually doubts the authenticity of accepted beliefs
2. a person who mistrusts people, ideas, etc., in general
3. (Philosophy) a person who doubts the truth of religion, esp Christianity
◦ Cynicism
1. An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others:
2. A scornfully or jadedly negative comment or act:
◦ Prejudice
1. a. An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.
b. A preconceived preference or idea.
2. The act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions
3. Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion.
◦ Negative self image
Whenever these infiltrate our thinking and believing, we can miss the Eureka moments where God wants to bring fresh revelation about who He is and what He wants to do in your life.
Remember that Archimedes had many baths before the answer came to Him! It is in the routine of life, the regular reading of Scripture and prayer, the walking and talking with God, the worship of Him within a congregation, Holy Communion, meeting with people and enjoying God’s creation that the Eureka moment can come.
It is in these moments that we are invited to “come and see”!
2012 has started with a bang for Liz and I. We got back from a lovely holiday in Adelaide with clients waiting to be prayed for and the establishment of a Healing Centre at Coolangatta.
Our training day was literally washed out with inches of rain flooding roads and making driving impossible. So we started with a small group on February 1 of 6 people with one person away. Our training day was shortened but we had a good time talking about the nuts and bolts of our admin and prayer pattern.
One member brought a friend with a frozen shoulder and so we had the opportunity to practice what we preach! The Lord gave her more movement in the shoulder plus she was able to deal with unforgiveness in some relationship issues. This week we found out from her friend that the Lord spoke to her and it was a profound experience for her. A Eureka moment!
This week we gathered for worship and prayer and the Lord gave us a very encouraging picture of a crippled liner with many different boats bringing people to the shore. We saw that God was going to bring many clients to us. We also felt that the Lord was going to enlarge our team to 16!
We prayed for two of our team and used this as an opportunity to encourage and train our team to learn to pray better with Jesus and better with each other.
The Lord has provided a wonderful ministry room where we have a reception area, two ministry rooms and a room for a team retreat to pray for people at a rental of less than $60 per week! Desks, chairs, blinds and air-conditioning supplied in the deal. We have one oof our team’s friends doing artwork and a sign for us. What a great God we have! People will make donations to help cover costs.
Our client base for Walking Free has started slowly. We do have some spare slots in February but maybe the Lord is giving us a little space to establish the healing centre. We have a couple of clients who ring to sort out their lives in between ministries.
We are very thankful to the many that sponsor us so that we can continue this ministry.
Church also has become exciting and challenging. We have a new retried ministerial couple who are helping us out with music and a review of worship to upgrade what we have. We have already moved the piano to a different spot and we have not heard too many rumbles! We also have two young families bringing their children to our church for baptism and it seems that they may stay with us. Our Samoan family is joining in with us. We had prayed for 10 new people during 2011 and God has answered our prayer in one hit with this family!
So Eureka moments are everywhere if we look for them, expect them and answer the invitation to “come and see”.
2012 will bring some Eureka moments for you as you follow the call of God in your life. Do not be afraid when he calls you out of your comfort zone. Trust the One who has called you before and continues to call to you to come and see what I have for you.