December 9: John 1 6-8
Key Verse: John 1 8
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Devotion:
Before Jesus came to us in human form, He made sure there would be someone who would be willing to tell people about Him. This could not be someone He knew would deny Him or someone who would promote Himself instead of Jesus. He chose John before His time would come!
John was born as a son of a priest, Zechariah, who was married to Elizabeth who did not seem to be able to conceive at the time and they were both considered to be past child bearing age – but nothing is impossible through God. When the angel came to Zechariah to tell him they would be having a son soon, he doubted and wanted some sort of proof this could happen… he lost his voice as a result of that doubt and would not get it back until John was born and they asked him what his son should be named! Zechariah may have been a priest who worked in the temple, but he faltered when it came to allowing Christ’s light to shine through him!
When John was born and Zechariah had named him, Zechariah began to praise God like he had not done before; he knew the light had to shine through and nothing was going to stop that! Pretty soon people all over the land were talking about John and wondering what was so important about him – they would soon find out.
John did not have a great big mansion to live in, even though God had chosen him. John lived and worked out in the wilderness where he could work freely and tell people about the Messiah who was coming. If he had been given a mansion and lived in the city, he may not have lasted too long as the government would have put a stop to that, one way or another!
John was chosen by God, named by God and given a task by God. John made sure he dedicated his life to fulfilling that task; and I’m sure Zechariah made sure he was taught all he needed to know. But John was only a man. He was not Christ. He was just obedient in making sure other knew about Christ before He arrived!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like telling people about something good which is about to happen?
Are you telling people about Christ?
