Dare to be a John

Luke 3:16, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Such is the attitude of the true messenger of the Savior. Though many flocked to John thinking he was the Messiah, the prophet from the wilderness pointed them away from himself and to the true Savior of souls. John wasn’t pretentious and didn’t pretend to be anything other than he was. Though a great prophet and preacher who could gather a crowd and in whom the Spirit of God was mightily at work, John only used his God-given powers and abilities to perform his task of heralding the coming Messiah. He didn’t use the stage given him to become the center of the show and attract men to himself.

Understanding the true preciousness of the Christ, John consequently understood his own unworthiness when compared to the value of Jesus. John’s own mission of baptism, repentance, and Christ-pointing meant little without Jesus’ all-important task of redemption. A great man of God, John grasped that his person and preaching had meaning only as they focused on the One who gives all creatures meaning and proclaimed Him whose work gives us something to publish abroad.