walkingthroughthebibleJohn 1:6-9:  There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

Here we have the account by John (the Apostle), of John the Baptist.  John provides a rather short intro to John the Baptist, so let’s look at a parallel account in Matthew 3:1-3:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” (A reference to a prophesy in Isaiah 40:3)

In Matthew, we are told of the prophetic nature of John the Baptist and that he was called for this very purpose.  This is extremely important to understand.  John was called by God to announce the coming of the messiah and to identify him.  He was called to do a tremendous thing.  Can you imagine to have such a calling?  Not only are you humbled by the calling itself, but you are also humbled by the reality that your role is so shortly lived.  He was a key figure in the early stages of these unfolding events and then as we will find, he was gone.  While that may not sound immediately heartwarming to you, it actually gives me a sense of awe and thankfulness.  God has a plan for every believer.  It may be a small part.  It may not.  But there is a plan for us that God is in control of throughout time.  We hear so much in our day about finding purpose, but this is not about that.  So much of the talk about purpose and God’s plan is truly man-centered.  John the Baptist was not man-centered.  He spent much of his life in the wilderness and when he finally becomes a public figure, the only glory he gets is later when in the story we find out he is beheaded. 

We are called to conform our lives to the light, to Jesus.  And yes God has a plan to use us.  And even if that plan means a life of ridicule and possibly persecution, we should be thankful for it!

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Walking through the Bible is a verse by verse study of the Bible. A small segment of verses will be looked at each time and a brief, but relevant study of the text will be conducted.

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