Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.
Nathanael said to him,
How do you know me?
Jesus answered and said to him,
Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.
— John 1:47-48
The peace of the Lord be with you. The phrase that caught my eye this morning was that Nathanael had “no duplicity” in him. In other words, there was no hidden agenda; there was an honesty, a genuineness about him.
As disciples of Jesus, we too are called to be ourselves and not to be image driven. It is not Christian to have hidden agendas or to do things with a reward in mind. We are called to give freely of ourselves just as Jesus did. In many ways our current society tries to rob us of our individuality, our unique traits, and homogenize us into a commodity; but we are not a commodity — we are God’s creation.
So as we step out into the world today let us bring our best selves — the one that God intended for us to be along with those gifts from the reservoir of talents that have been provided. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.