Today's Readings - Deuteronomy 33-34, Luke 3:1–22, Psalm 39:1-6, Proverbs 9:13-16
Devotional - It's Not about Me
Our world has fallen prey to the Andy Warhol concept that everyone will have his "15 minutes of fame" and many people live for that - to "go viral," to achieve fame even if it is for something shameful or disgusting. Fame is now our measure of significance.
But John the Baptist took that idea and slapped it upside the head...hard. He became famous but he never sought it. He never did a single thing to make himself famous and he never served fame - he served God.
He was a humble man, dressing simply and living in the wilderness. He preached a hard message, not one that people wanted hear. The key to a false prophet's message was always this - he told people what they wanted to hear. "You are great just the way you are - don't ever change." "God will never judge sin because he loves us too much." But John proclaimed truth, judgment and reality without any concern for the status of the people he was preaching to or how he might offend. Matthew 3:7 tells us how he called the self-important Pharisees and Sadducees a "brood of vipers" (language Jesus would later pick up); not exactly a way to win friends and influence people. He confronted average people and tax collectors and soldiers (who had real power) and didn't back down from any of them.
His life was not about him, it was about Jesus. That was no motto, no t-shirt, no Facebook status for John, it was his life. God's glory and the coming work of the Savior was all that mattered. He did not back down even when later it would cost him his head.
Are you a man or woman of God? Am I serving my own purposes or the purposes of God? Am I building my kingdom or the kingdom of God? Do I care more about whether people like me or whether they come to Christ?
I do not plan to wear camel's hair or eat locusts, but I need much more of the heart of John the Baptist in my soul.
But John the Baptist took that idea and slapped it upside the head...hard. He became famous but he never sought it. He never did a single thing to make himself famous and he never served fame - he served God.
He was a humble man, dressing simply and living in the wilderness. He preached a hard message, not one that people wanted hear. The key to a false prophet's message was always this - he told people what they wanted to hear. "You are great just the way you are - don't ever change." "God will never judge sin because he loves us too much." But John proclaimed truth, judgment and reality without any concern for the status of the people he was preaching to or how he might offend. Matthew 3:7 tells us how he called the self-important Pharisees and Sadducees a "brood of vipers" (language Jesus would later pick up); not exactly a way to win friends and influence people. He confronted average people and tax collectors and soldiers (who had real power) and didn't back down from any of them.
His life was not about him, it was about Jesus. That was no motto, no t-shirt, no Facebook status for John, it was his life. God's glory and the coming work of the Savior was all that mattered. He did not back down even when later it would cost him his head.
Are you a man or woman of God? Am I serving my own purposes or the purposes of God? Am I building my kingdom or the kingdom of God? Do I care more about whether people like me or whether they come to Christ?
I do not plan to wear camel's hair or eat locusts, but I need much more of the heart of John the Baptist in my soul.
Father, may I be faithful, bold, and devoted like your servant John. As he prepared the way of the Lord, may my life be about helping people come to know the Savior, that a way might be made for them to come to him.
Think and Pray
Which of the readings spoke most powerfully to you today?Is the Spirit of God moving you to repent of something you are doing, to begin something new, or to change something about your life as a result of your readings? What?
Think about your life, your priorities, the way you spend your time. Is your passion that of John - making a way for the Lord? Or are you living selfishly, devoted to your own will and ways? A healthy time of prayer and self-reflection would be helpful today!
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