What Are You After? with Pastor Ryan Braley

What if the most powerful spiritual practice isn't finding answers, but asking better questions?

When Jesus encountered his first followers, he didn't greet them with a sermon or statement of faith. Instead, he asked a deceptively simple question that cuts straight to the heart of human existence: "What are you looking for?"

This question—the first words Jesus speaks in John's gospel—reveals something profound about spiritual growth. In ancient Jewish tradition, faith wasn't about memorizing correct answers but wrestling with meaningful questions. Jesus carried this tradition forward, asking over 300 questions throughout his ministry. These weren't rhetorical devices but invitations to relationship, dialogue, and transformation.

Questions operate on multiple levels. When Jesus asks "What are you looking for?", he's inviting us to examine what we're truly pursuing in life. Many of us chase surface-level desires—wealth, fame, pleasure, uniqueness—without recognizing the deeper longings beneath them: to be seen, to belong, to matter, to find meaning, to receive grace we don't deserve.

The disciples responded to Jesus' question with a question of their own: "Rabbi, where are you staying?" This wasn't evasion but engagement—the beginning of a relationship built on dialogue rather than passive reception. Jesus' response was equally significant: "Come and see." Not a lecture or list of rules, but an invitation to journey and discover.

As we navigate our complex modern lives with endless demands and distractions, could we benefit from living inside good questions rather than clinging to rigid certainties? What are you truly looking for? What lies beneath your surface pursuits? These questions won't be answered in a day, but living with them, wrestling with them, might lead to the transformation your soul is actually seeking.

Subscribe now and join us as we explore Jesus' most profound questions and discover how they still speak powerfully to our lives today.

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