December 18 | Turning Hearts to God
Luke 1:14–17 ESV
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
WOW! What an honorable description of John the Baptist in this passage today!!! Thinking of how the Bible describes John in another passage in Matthew 3:4,
Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
The two descriptions seem to contradict one another. How can some wild man do all this amazing stuff for God’s glory?? This reminds me of the year our church in Clifton decided that everyone had to wear Biblical Costumes Only to our annual harvest party. I went as John the Baptist – hair messy and teased, furry, hand-made tunic, and a giant plastic locust to carry around and “eat.” Thinking back on how I felt in that “role,” I remember feeling amused, but I also probably felt a little embarrassed to look so silly!!! I wonder if that’s how John felt – outcast, out of place and a spectacle!
Here's the amazing thing about God! God often uses the outcast, the out of place and the spectacle people to draw men unto Himself. It doesn’t make sense and usually, with God, most things never do! BUT GOD! If God can take a person like John the Baptist and use him to turn the hearts of people toward Jesus, then God can certainly use YOU to do the same!!!!!
Who can you be a “John the Baptist” to today?
~Pastor Bonnie Polisano (Worship Pastor)