There's not a lot of information about Nathanael.  It seems he was alone in a clump of trees.  Maybe he went there every day because it was a private place where he could speak to God in prayer.  Maybe on this day he'd been thinking about the words of Psalm 32:2.  There's a clue of this in the story.

Nathaniel wasn't very interested when Jesus' disciples told him they had found the special Person God was going to send.  But when Jesus said to him 'you were under the fig tree', Nathaniel reacted.  The Bible doesn't explain why he responded the way he did.  He burst out with words of praise, saying to Jesus, 'You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.'

Read John 1:43-50 and see if you can figure out why Nathaniel answered Jesus that way.  Do you think Jesus knew what Nathaniel was saying (even thinking) under the olive tree?

That's how Nathaniel became a follower of Jesus.  Are you a follower of Jesus?

Prayer: Lord, You are the Son of God.  Thank You for coming to earth to die for me and be my Savior.  Amen.

Two young men were gang members in Glasgow, Scotland.  For some reason, they went to a Gospel meeting where the preacher spoke about Jesus Christ.  

'Jesus is the only One who can forgive sin,' the preacher read from his Bible. 'Jesus is the only One who can give you a new life.'

Both men gave their hearts to Jesus that night - and their lives were changed.  They stopped doing wrong, harmful, unlawful things and started living for Jesus.  Pretty soon, they were telling other people about Jesus and how he had changed their hearts just as the Bible says.

These two men, like millions of others before them, were just like Peter and Andrew who, when they 'found the Messiah' found a new life.

Have you 'found the Messiah?'

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You that Jesus is the Messiah and my Savior.  Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me a new life.  Help me to tell others about Jesus.  Amen.

There's an old story about a little girl who lived with her family in a lonely ranch out west.  The daughter had a pet lamb.  Wherever the girl went, the lamb went.  No, her name wasn't Mary, but she sure loved her lamb - and it seemed the little lamb loved her.

One winter night, as the family made the ten mile drive home from church in their horse and wagon, a blizzard came up.  They lost their way and had to wait out the storm.  All night long it snowed.  When the snow quit, the family started out for home.  It was slow going but the horses speeded up when they heard a shocking sound.  Wolf-howls!  A pack of wolves were on their trail.

To lighten the weight and go faster, Father threw off the open wagon everything that wasn't necessary.  Still the wolves drew closer.  When it looked like they would soon snap at the horses' legs and bring them down, Muriel (that was the girl's name) cried out, 'What will happen to us, Daddy?'

'I won't let anything happen to you, precious one,' Father replied.  'If the horses go down, I'll tip the wagon so you and mother can shelter underneath.  And I'll fight off the wolves, if I can.'

'Daddy?' Muriel's eyes filled with tears.  'If I threw my lamb to the wolves, would that be enough for them?'

'It would slow them down and give us a chance,' Father said grimly. 'It could save our lives.'

Muriel gave her little lamb one last hug and kiss, then threw it out on to the snow.  The pack of wolves circled it - and began fighting over it among themselves.  Soon the wagon was far enough away that the family was safe.

Muriel sacrificed her little lamb - and that saved her Dad and maybe the whole family.  When the minister of Mary's church told the story, he said that Mary's little lamb reminded him of Jesus.  Do you understand why?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus, the Lamb of God who died to save us.  Amen.

The man called John the Baptist must have seemed a strange fellow to those who met him for the first time.  He wore a strange outfit made of camel skins and he ate stranged food like locusts and wild honey.  He must have been a good runner to get the honey and escape from the bees.

John was a special servant of God.  His job was to tell others who Jesus is.  And John did that, even though important people didn't want to hear about Jesus and made it hard for John.  But nothing could make him keep quiet.

'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,' John shouted out.  'Make straight the way of the LORD.'  John said this because in Bible days, when a king or other important person traveled, gangs of workers shoveled away the hills and made the road flat and straight.  John was saying that Jesus, God's Son, had come from heaven, and He should be welcomed as an important guest.

Do you think everybody welcomed Jesus?  Do you welcome Jesus?

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You that Your Son Jesus came to my world.  Thank You for Your servant, John the Baptist, who spoke up for You.  Help me to do the same.  Amen.

It was a terrible storm, blowing down buildings and making rivers overflow.  When the storm passed, the king wanted to know how his people were doing.  He had his servants pack his stage coach with parcels of food and bottles of clean water and he dressed himself like an ordinary servant so the people would not be afraid.

The king and his two servants had to help the horses through the muddy washed-out trails.  They got pretty dirty.  When the king met some families huddled together around an open fire, he told them, 'I'm your king.  Come over here.  I have nice food and clean water for you.'  The people looked at his dirty clothes and shook their heads.  

'We'll stay by the warm fire,' they answered. 'We are roasting pine cones to eat.'

The king pulled out some parcels and gave them to the people.  When they saw what was inside, they knew it really was the king!  Rushing over, they thanked the king for caring about their troubles and bringing gifts to help them live.

King Jesus has brought us greater gifts than food and water.  King Jesus brought God's grace and God's truth to ordinary people.  These are great gifts and we can have them if we want them.  Just ask Jesus.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for bringing grace and truth to us.  Help me to receive Your gifts and help me to live for You.  Amen.