Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today let’s focus on lifting up the drawing Jesus.

Jesus said in today’s scripture, John 12:32 (NLT)…
And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

Consider…
One of my favorite hymns growing up lyrics say…

Verse 1:
How to reach the masses, men of ev’ry birth,
For an answer Jesus gave the key:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
Will draw all men unto Me.”

Refrain:
Lift Him up, (Lift the precious Savior up),
Lift Him up, (Lift the precious Savior up),
Still He speaks from eternity:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
Will draw all men unto Me.”

Verse 2:
Oh! the world is hungry for the Living Bread,
Lift the Savior up for them to see;
Trust Him, and do not doubt the words that He said,
“I’ll draw all men unto Me.” [Refrain]

Verse 3:
Don’t exalt the preacher, don’t exalt the pew,
Preach the Gospel simple, full and free;
Prove Him and you will find that promise is true,
“I’ll draw all men unto Me.” [Refrain]

Verse 4:
Lift Him up by living as a Christian ought,
Let the world in you the Savior see;
Then men will gladly follow Him who once taught,
“I’ll draw all men unto Me.” [Refrain]

All the verses and refrain of that hymn exhort us to lift Jesus up for others to see and that He will draw them to Himself. This seems like such a simple concept, yet somehow we tend to complicate it with religious requirements and doctrinal debates.

Think about it, if I told you that your favorite artist was giving a free concert, would I need to convince you to go? Would I need to tell you all the things you should do to prepare for the concert? Indeed, would I really need to give you instructions on how to enjoy their singing? Or would I just need to let you know when and where they’ll be performing for free?

In the same way, Jesus Christ tells us in today’s scripture…
when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.

Now, in this passage Jesus was literally speaking of about being lifted up on a cross to die for our sins. In fact, He explained in John 3:14‭-‬15 (NLT)…
And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

Jesus’ parallel to the bronze snake was referring to the time when God punished people for speaking against Him, by sending poisonous snakes to bite them. When the people cried out for help, God told Moses to make a REPLICA of the poisonous snake for the people to look upon and be healed (Numbers 21:4-9).

Hebrews 2:14‭-‬15 (NLT) shows us the parallel that Jesus was making. It says…
Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

In both instances, God used a replica of the judgement to be the salvation.

In both instances, salvation was made available, but it required the infected people to focus on God’s solution, which was lifted up for them to see.

That’s why our task as Christians is simply to lift up Christ for others to see.

The Holy Spirit gave me another example to illustrate our lifting (living for Christ) for Jesus’ drawing.

Imagine a person is hungry and you had bread to give them. Would they care about the nutritional value of the bread? Would they want to know where you got it from or how much you paid? Indeed would they really care that it’s your favorite bread? Or would they simply want the bread so that they too could be fed.

Jesus said in John 6:47‭-‬51 (NLT)…
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”

Sharing our testimony and knowledge of God is wonderful and good, but when you see someone hungry, the Holy Spirit says just simply offer them the bread that you have. Jesus said, He satisfies their hunger and thirst (John 6:35).

So, lift Jesus up to others, so that He can draw…

• Hope from their hopelessness
• Faith from their faithlessness
• Life from their lifelessness
• Purpose from their purposelessness
• Worth from their worthlessness
• and Love from their lovelessness

As a student of Jesus’ magnet school of salvation and abundant life, our assignment is to lift Him up in everything we think, say and do. Then get out of His way as He draws everyone else whose eyes are also focused on Him.

The Holy Spirit dropped one last nugget on me, discipling is walking along side someone else as we follow Christ together. Only Jesus should be in front of us and those we’re walking with. If He’s not, then you need to get out of the way. Remember, Jesus said…
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 NLT

Lift and move, and let Him draw.

Today’s Song is…
Lift Him Up

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)