This week, I’m taking another week-long intensive course at Lipscomb; the course topic is Johannine Literature. The material has been great. John’s Gospel is far and away my favorite one. I love John’s themes: love, light, abiding in Him, the Word. One of my favorite passages is found in John’s Prologue to his Gospel:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:14

I learned this week that the Greek construction rendered “made his dwelling among us” can literally mean that he “pitched his tent among us”. John’s pre-existent Word, God’s agent of creation, enters into our human experience. He’s a God who comes and sets up shop with us, gets into life with us. And before He leaves, He promises His Spirit to His followers, an Advocate to continue the work of Jesus in us. The point? He’s still with us, living within us and in us to this day. The Spirit is God’s seed (1 John 3:9), enabling us to abide with Him. And now we have been born of God, continuing the work of Jesus today.

I’m thankful today for the fact that we can learn & grow in the Lord. Grad school has been such a spiritually formative experience for me, one that I’m eternally thankful for.