After giving a few minutes for discussion, ask for 1 or 2 volunteers to share their thoughts on how they try to get to know someone.

A hurried-looking man threw a sideways glance at the table. The lady jumped at this chance, stopping to address him directly with, “Excuse me, sir, would you like to know more about God and who He is, exactly?”

The man listened to her query before promptly replying, “No. I’ve got better things to do than sit around and read all your literature.”

“But it’s not just that, sir, it’s an all-encompassing quest, seeking to discover the truth about God.”

He crossed his arms and pursed his lips. “Actually, I don’t really care about that sort of thing. So maybe God exists, maybe He loves us, maybe He doesn’t, or maybe there isn’t a God, and we’re all alone in the universe.” He shrugged and continued, “Either way, it doesn’t matter to me—I’ve got my own life to deal with, and I don’t see any value in chasing after abstract notions of deities. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some errands to run.”

The woman’s face fell as she realized that there was no way she could persuade him of the importance of seeking God. As he strode away, she looked at the rest of the people filling the street. How many of them were like that man, secure and content with the status quo of their lives? Or how many believed they had the truth all figured out and were not even looking for other possibilities? She silently prayed that they might all take the first step and explore just who God was.

Message
The Bible deals a lot with exploration and explorers, from a woman looking for a simple coin to the Israelites exploring new territory. You can become explorers too! Jesus wants us to pursue Him and to get to know Him better. God’s Word gives a variety of examples of people exploring just who Jesus was.

A simple, personal testimony may be all it takes to spark the need to further explore Jesus. This is all it took for two of John the Baptist’s disciples to conclude that they had a need to explore the Son of God.

Read John 1:35-39. Prior to these verses, we find John the Baptist preaching about the soon-to-come Messiah and how He takes away the sins of the world. He was practically giving a stirring personal testimony as to what he knew about Jesus from exploring Him. John’s disciples heard his testimony, and the possibilities of it being true grabbed their attention and held it fast while they had a bit of time to think over and ponder what John proclaimed. So by the time Jesus came, their curiosity was pretty riled up, and they immediately followed Him to try to learn more about Him.

For some people, exploring Jesus takes time, but the initial step is done almost on a whim. Simon Peter was like that. Read John 1:40-42. Andrew’s announcement, “We have found the Messiah,” must have resonated with Peter for him to be willing to be led to Jesus. Little did Andrew know it, but he had ignited a small but sure flame that would inspire Peter to go out and explore who Jesus really was.

People today should become more like Peter in this aspect. Peter had been exploring Jesus. He had been exploring so much that he was now comfortable with what he believed, regardless of what others’ opinions were. Having sought out so much about Jesus, Peter had discovered that Jesus was the one true God and Messiah.

It is not too difficult to start exploring who Jesus is. As Ellen G. White said in her book, Steps To Christ, “God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith”( p. 105). Now read what Jesus says Himself in Luke 11:9-10. If we look about and actually do some seeking and exploring, we are guaranteed to find Jesus and His true character. Read Jeremiah 29:12-13. In order for us to find what we are exploring for, we must seek for it wholeheartedly; we must want it more than anything.

Exploration never starts while sitting around doing nothing—you must take the first step. First, choose to commit to discovering the truth about Jesus. Then, decide where you are going next. Will your plan involve incorporating Bible studies to help deepen your knowledge of Christ, or will it focus on learning to just sit and listen to Jesus? Also, take lots of time just to talk with Him through prayer. How else are you going to get to know Him if you don’t spend time with Him? Peter’s small step to follow Jesus early on led to him proclaiming with assurance that Jesus was the Son of the living God. What a transformation! Just imagine! It’s possible for you too!

Becoming a disciple of Christ—giving up everything and following Him—can be hard. So don’t feel pressured to say yes to Him quite yet. Just take tonight as a time to not say no to Him, a time to open up His word and open up your mind and your heart to the possibility that God could be showing you something beyond what you’re used to!