I've spent parts of the last two days looking at the life of John the Baptist - studying the passages about him in the Gospels as well as Old Testament prophecy of him. Two themes that occur over and over in the life of John are these: humility and a continual pointing to the Savior. Actually, the two themes go hand-in-hand. If you study these Scripture passages, you'll see that John is constantly denying himself (physically, verbally, spiritually) and pointing to Jesus. John isn't concerned about making disciples that follow John, but disciples that follow Jesus. He tells others to take their eyes off him and, instead, look to Jesus as the One to follow. As I noticed these themes coming up again and again, I was convicted with the fact that I am often not quick to point to the Savior. I realized that at times my desire is to create followers of Julie, instead of followers of Jesus. The study of John's life has encouraged me to do as John did - continually point others to Jesus as the One who is worthy of their worship.
Abba, continue Your work in our hearts. Humble us and remind us to point others to You - the Way, the Truth and the Life. Thank You for the example of John's life. I pray that You would cause us to decrease and that You would increase Yourself in our lives.
2 comments:
You are an inspiration to me in digging deeper into the Scriptures...I tend to be lazy and legalistic in my Bible study. I agree with your take on John the Baptist -- and, what's neat is that the Truth he spoke begat followers. Again, in my weakness, I may water down the Truth to make it palatable for an unbeliever, or offer a needs-satisfying message, when I need to trust that the Lord's Word is sufficient...
Thanks, Sharon, for your comments. The Word is SO rich - dig deep . . .
Have a lovely day,
Julie
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