Read: Mark 1:1-8 <Click here> to read online.
And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
I just got the pictures from my high school class reunion. I wasn’t able to travel to Minnesota to be with the class, but I was there in spirit. The pictures are wonderful. I can still recognize most of them. Forty-plus years, and much has changed. I would never have thought that I would become a Children’s Minister or relish my 3 years as a missionary. I wasn’t the “missionary” or “minister” type person…I was from a very small town in Minnesota, and “you just don’t do that sort of thing”. You become a teacher, or a nurse, something normal.
My family and close friends had much more faith in me than I did. “Lord”, I prayed, “stay by me, walk with me, and when I have doubts, strengthen me.” And he has. I truly know that God had a plan for me, it just took me awhile to recognize The Plan. I haven’t a clue what will come next, but in His time I will find out.
When John the Baptist came on the scene 2,000 years ago, he believed the Messiah was coming. He lived a humble life away from any of the comforts of his day. His clothes were made from camel hair and his food was mainly locusts. Still, he exemplified the way to Christ. It is a road that is not easy, but filled with difficulties and hardships. People of John the Baptist’s time thought he was strange and “had issues, “ as we would say now. There were those who must have asked : Where does he fit in? What is he doing? Is he really a man of God? Where did he come from?
Unlike my doubts about my “mission,” John didn’t have any doubt. He knew he was different from other people. He knew he didn’t fit in. He had faith and believed, with all that he was, that Jesus was coming. He believed Jesus was God’s Son. God had a plan. John would be his messenger, and because John believed, many repented and believed.
Hope is found in the barren depth of us all, and thrives.
Consider: How would you react to John the Baptist if he came today?
<Click here> to see a fun family activity for Advent.
<Click here> to see a fun family activity for Advent.
Adult Challenge:
Imagine yourself as a modern-day John the Baptist. Does your life exemplify Christ’s message of repentance, hope, and love? In what ways could your life do that?
Child Prompt:
If I were John the Baptist today, as God’s messenger I would:
