eDevotion
Encouragement for your daily walk with God
If you were sitting on a pulpit committee, would you hire John the Baptist? I think very few would even consider his application. For one thing, he was a public relations nightmare. The Gospel of Mark points out that he neither dressed right nor had the right diet. Listen to his description: “His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey” [Mark 1:6]. How dare he!
And his preaching was as rough as his clothing. His messages were no nonsense. He was like a brawler continuously challenging people to get right with God because He is on the way [my loose translation of, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2].
Everything about John, his clothing, his diet, his challenging words, set him apart for a unique task: to be a voice “crying in the wilderness.”
John didn’t have to look like, and live like, the world around him to reach them for Christ, and neither do we. So don’t lower your standards. Don’t stoop to their level to raise them to your level. No, you don’t have to be odd to be holy because holiness doesn’t seek to be odd, it seeks to be like God.
Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God? Psalm 71.19
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