CHILDREN’S BOOK 3:
Do you ever feel as if you are THE WEAKEST LINK?
Imagine a quiz show where the questions are tough, the clock is ticking, and the host has the same warmth as a tax audit. Welcome to The Weakest Link—a game where teamwork is essential, but betrayal is inevitable, and the only thing more brutal than the trivia is the elimination process.
In each episode, contestants work together to answer general knowledge questions and build up a cash prize. But just when you think you are in this together, the time comes to vote off the player who is dragging the team down (or, more often, the one who looks like a threat).
Then comes the dramatic music and the host’s icy glare as she declares, “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.” Apparently, this phrase is legally required to be delivered with maximum sarcasm.
The real fun? Watching contestants desperately try to explain why they voted off their grandma, or why they banked only $10 after six correct answers when there was a possibility of winning $100,000.
The host makes Cruella de Villa and the Wicked Witch of the West look like camp counselors. She skewers contestants with dry wit and deadpan put-downs, making losing almost as entertaining as winning.
The Weakest Link is perfect if you love quiz shows, enjoy watching the drama of contestants under pressure, or are just interested in watching strangers get embarrassed for not knowing the capital of France or the name of Mickey Mouse’s girlfriend.
I guess it helps me to feel better about myself.
Do you ever feel as if you are THE WEAKEST LINK? In your family? Church? Culture?
That is a common reaction for many of us when faced with the challenge that Jesus LIVES inside you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you.
How are you doing this week? Would you be voted by others as The Weakest Link?
Let us deal with the truth. Some of us are ready to be out of the game. Life can be filled with incorrect responses to simple lessons about loving others. Others are eager to blame you.
Honestly, what was your latest response to the question, “Who should you love first and love most? How many of us stood there with a blank stare, an empty brain, and a frozen heart?
It is as if we cannot produce a correct answer. Then come the flashcard pictures of our latest encounters. Our only defense is to vote that person out of our life as the weakest link instead of us.
It can be humiliating to be voted the weakest link on a game show or in real life. It is miraculous that Jesus uses weak links like empty stone jars and flawed humans to show the greatness of His glory.
I reflected on that situation this week as I continued to read the Gospel of John. As I previously mentioned, I am trying to slowly read it with the eyes and heart of a child.
There is a remarkably interesting life directing statement in Chapter Two that builds in importance as the bigger story unfolds.
DO WHATEVER JESUS TELLS YOU TO DO!
Do you remember the story setting?
Once upon a time, in a small town called Cana, there was a big wedding. Everyone was happy, laughing, and dancing. Jesus and his friends were invited, and so was his mother, Mary.
But suddenly, something went wrong—the host ran out of wine! This made the host very embarrassed and worried.
Mary told the helpers, “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.”
Jesus asked the helpers to fill up six large stone jars with water, all the way to the top.
When the jars were full, Jesus told the helpers to take some out and give it to the person in charge of the wedding reception. When the host sampled it, he was amazed—it was the best wine he had ever tasted!
Jesus showed the glory of God’s love described as the theme and purpose of John’s gospel:
The Word became human and made his home with us…
and we have seen his GLORY, the glory of God’s one and the only Son…
full of GRACE and truth (unfailing love, unending goodness, and everlasting faithfulness) (John 1:14).
This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first of many times Jesus revealed the great goodness of God’s glory and his disciples believed in him.
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. (John 20:30-31).
THE GLORY OF GOD IS REVEALED IN GOD’S GRACE THROUGH GOD”S WORD TO THOSE UNABLE TO HELP THEMSELVES SO THAT WE WILL BELIEVE IN JESUS.
As I looked at this first SIGN, I noted several simple life-lesson applications among the deeper theological truths being revealed.
- Jesus can make something beautiful out of a bad situation.
- Jesus helps those who cannot help themselves.
- Jesus can use an empty vessel to bless others.
This is a story of The Weakest Link.
An empty vessel. Filled by Jesus. A blessing of LOVE to others.
I was the weakest link. Do you feel that way? God uses the weakest link to bless others.
Jesus announced He came to call the sinners, not the good. Jesus chooses the weakest links in the family and culture.
This is God speaking to us. “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.”
Your obedience is an action of FAITH which highlights the goodness of God’s GLORY.
God’s Word is a living being…the re-creator of new people. Empty pots become full of His goodness and useful as a blessing to others.
GOD USES THE WEAKEST LINK TO SHOWCASE HIS GLORY.
That is the point of God’s Glory in your life’s story.
YOU ARE A SIGN FOR OTHERS TO SEE THE GLORY OF GOD’S GOODNESS.
Jesus LIVES inside of you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you.
DO WHATEVER JESUS TELLS YOU TO DO. LOVE FIRST. LOVE MOST.
When you do what Jesus tells you to do, you change from the weakest link to one of the many miraculous SIGNS of the goodness of God’s glory.
Jesus takes your weakness and brings out the best in you. A beautiful blessing in a bad situation.
GOD INTENDS TO USE YOU AS A BEAUTIFUL BLESSING IN A BAD SITUATION!
It might even surprise a lot of people who voted you as The Weakest Link.
LOVE FIRST...LOVE MOST 