When you're dusty by Mandie Joy

Apparently Hebrew tradition defined the word “disciple” (or student) as someone who walked so closely with their teacher that, by the end of the day, they were covered in his dust.

I’ve been asking Jesus what it looks like to be his student – to understand not only who he is, but how he is in such a way that where he is becomes synonymous with where I am…in a way that leaves me covered in his dust at the end of my day.

Because the truth is, as a disciple, our focus should not be on what we are doing, but on who we are knowing.

 

And when our focus is on knowing him, more than doing for him, whatever we happen to accomplish on any given day becomes his dust covering us. My most insignificant moment, when aimed at knowing him, can be covered in his dust – his fingerprints.

Your messiest moments are his dust, too. The ones that go unnoticed or feel like they steal your breath with suffocating loneliness, those are the ones he inhabits. They’re the ones that make us students, the ones that transform us from doers to knowers. From a head knowledge to a heart change. From moral restraint to supernatural change.

So when you crawl into bed tonight and think back over the insignificant moments of the day, look for his fingerprints, expect to see dust. Ask where were you and how did you see me in that moment and what do you want me to know about you from today?

When you remembered that fingers are more important than the fingerprints they leave on the walls…

When you took two minutes to sit in silence and ask for his eyes to see the one who has been on your last nerve…

 

When you looked up from your laundry to show delight in yet another scribbled masterpiece or beautiful bug…

When you took the time to thank a professor for his lecture instead of taking his hard-won knowledge for granted…

When you went to the baby shower to celebrate your friend’s joy in the midst of your own loss…

When you decided to face that crippling fear by finally asking for accountability…

When you take time to ask for his prayers for the person who cut you off in traffic…

It’s the little moments.

The location and duration and world’s estimation of our minutes has so little to do with their true value if lived out in the midst of our Teacher’s dust.

The disciples cared little for where they went, who they spoke to, and what they ate. Their focus was on doing those things as close to their Teacher as they could be so that his words and thoughts and presence would spill onto their moments – so that they would learn him through whatever circumstance they happened to be living.

Practically, this looks different for me than it did for the disciples who literally brushed up against Jesus on a daily basis. They just had to physically stand close enough to him. We have to learn the habit of spiritually positioning ourselves close to him repeatedly throughout the day.

May your day be blessed!