I recently read the short biographies of the richest people in the USA. I was surprised at how many of them did not come from “old money.” Take Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, for example. He was raised in Bayview, a housing project in New York City. Rather than resenting his upbringing, he says it kept him grounded and connected to the poor around him.
When I read his story, I was reminded of another person who was raised in a New Testament “project” - Nazareth. Philip told his friend Nathaniel that he found the Messiah, Jesus, and that He came from Nazareth. Nathaniel’s disdainful response? "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Who, in their right mind, would think that the Messiah would come from such a backwater village!
Well, it wasn’t an accident that Jesus came from Nazareth. Nazareth demonstrated the central role humility would play in His life — the humble Servant who came to serve, not to be served — Matthew 28.20.
Some Christ followers disdain the humbling seasons of their lives, as if they are best forgotten and left behind. I suggest that our humble circumstances remind us that humility is what God is growing inside us, to make us more like His dear Son.
And Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” John 1.46
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