Day 359: Be Like John

John 3:1-6

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John 3: 11

 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Many of us know who John the Baptist is, we know of Him and we know the work He did before Jesus. John was the one to come before the Messiah to prepare the way for when He got there. John preached a message of repentance, he came baptizing the people who repented of their sins. One thing that John made sure that everyone knew was, he was not the Messiah. In fact the Messiah is much greater than him. He is only preparing the way for when the Messiah comes. John came to start something that Jesus would come to finish. 

What I'm getting at here is, John was not Jesus, and he made sure that everyone knew that. John did not try to be Jesus, instead he did what he was sent to do, the same way Jesus did. I here many of us talk about how we are not perfect, and how we are not Jesus. First of all we are not called to be Jesus we are called to be like Him. We are called to mock the perfect man and get as close to perfection as possible. If we were all called to be the Messiah then God would never have sent His son to die on a cross for us because we could have saved ourselves. Instead we were sent a savior because we were and constantly are in desperate need of a savior. We ourselves are not the savior. With that being said, we may not be Jesus but we can be John. 

We can prepare the way for when Jesus comes. We can live a life dedicated to Him, leading His people to Him everyday. While we are on Earth I believe that we can take an example from John as well. We are not the Messiah but we are as close to the Messiah that people will see before Jesus actually makes His return. This does not mean that we are physically baptizing people everywhere we go, although some of us may end up doing that. What that means is being a Christ example. Being a person that follows Christ, ad lives off of His every word. We can be the people that preach a message of repentance, and grace, and love letting people know that their is something greater to life. Their is something bigger than ourselves, and understanding that even at our greatest moments Jesus is greater and He will do more than we can ever do. But in the meantime, while we are waiting for His return, let's prepare the way for the Messiah when He returns in the same way John did. 

Reflection

1. What life lessons can we learn from John the Baptist?

2. Are you living a life that points to Christ?

3. If you were the only bible that anyone ever read, or the closest thing to Jesus anyone ever sees, what would people see?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Have a conversation with God about what we talked about today. Whatever is on your heart today, pray about it. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 360!

Day 334: We Are Because He Is

Revelation 22:13

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

John 3:16

For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Have you ever thought about what life would be like without God? It’s crazy to think about and even crazier to type. But when I think about things like that I am enlightened it is brought to my attention just how much god does for us and how much He loves us. Life would be so much different for everyone without God, life would suck actually. He was there at the very beginning and He will be there when it all ends. God exists outside of time. He wakes us up every morning, He is constantly fighting our battles and working things out on our behalf that we don’t even know about. God loves us so much that we can never wrap our minds around it completely. God is the reason we have life, he is the reason we exist. We are because He is. Many people can say they do not need God as they live on the breath that He has given us, as we live on a earth that He has created for us. Without God we literally have nothing, there is no way that we can live without Him.

As crazy as it may be to ask such a question it is important to come back to it every now and then because we sometimes tend to overlook the little things. We tend to forget just how good He is. Not because He gave us the job we wanted or the grades we prayed for but because He is the creator of all things. Because out of everything He created we are His most wonderful creation. Because He created the entire universe before creating man so that we can have something to live on. We forget about the “little things”. God holds the earth in place while keeping all the planets aligned. He gave us trees that would provide oxygen, plants and  herbs that would provide food and healing. He gave us animals and land, and gave us dominion over it all.

How much different would our lives be if God never sent His son to die for our sins? We would never have had a second chance at life. We would never have the opportunity to have a relationship with God and freely serve Him. If Jesus did not die for our sins we would die in our sin, never having the opportunity to spend eternity with God. In our imperfections and our flawed nature God sent someone who is perfect in everyway and unflawed without blemish to make sure that we will have a relationship with Him. God sent His son to complete us. He saw a people that could not survive outside of Him and made a way for us to be in constant communion with Him. That’s the god we serve. We serve a God that is in constant pursuit of our hearts and wants nothing but the best for us. God wants us to live the best possible life we can live and He made it possible for us. I don’t know anyone else who would go to such extreme lengths to save my life and more than that have a relationship with me.

As important as it is to continuously grow and move forward, it is just as important to stop sometimes and remember just who God is. It is important to remember that everything we are, everything we have become is because of God. the life we have is because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We must remember where we come from, we come from God, our identity, our life, our very existence is a result of a loving heavenly father. We are because He is.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Have a conversation with God about what we discussed today.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 335!