John the Baptist was sent from God as a witness- to bear witness about the Light- that all might believe his message about the Light.
God chose John the Baptist to be the one to announce to the world (which was the area he lived in at that time though it became the whole world that would 'hear' the message through the proclamation of the Word). But at that time it was to the Jewish community or anyone living in the area. These are the ones John was speaking to as he announced that Jesus Christ was the Light.
When was John chosen to fulfill this purpose? Like every person he was chosen from 'before the foundation of the world'. God not only knows all things, He planned it all and He brings it all to pass. John was set apart while still in his mother's womb. He obeyed what God had called him to do.
I wonder what it was like for him to be the only one who believed God was about to do something great in their midst. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who believes in God's sovereign election in mans salvation which to me is very humbling and causes deep gratitude within me. I know it is not true that I am the only one who believes this, but in my circles of Christianity it seems so and therefore, sometimes it is lonely. I want to be with people who love God's word and want to know the deep things of His teaching, the things that are sometimes hard to understand, the things that challenge my belief system and make me say, "God I will follow You no matter how hard the teaching is, now matter how it goes against 'my' feelings of who or what You 'should' be. John must have been lonely.
Today I read an article by A.W. Tozer The Saint Must Walk Alone from oneplace.com which struck a chord in my soul. Here is an excerpt:
"The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity. He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another. He seeks to persuade people to give all to his Lord and asks no portion or share for himself. He delights not to be honored but to see his Savior glorified in the eyes of men. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and overserious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces and finding few or none, he ... keeps these things in his heart. It is this very lonliness that throws him back upon God!!!..."
This message can also be found at sermonindex.com classics Oct. 18, 2009.
Lord, please help me to be faithful to You and to Your Word. Give me clear words that teach Your truth. Open eyes, ears, hearts to believe Your truth, resonate truth with truth in hearts and minds. Give clear and loud discord within when what we hear is wrong. Help me know how to talk to people, to encourage more fellowship 'in Your Word'. May I be used to 'teach others the glory of knowing You'!
to the praise of the glory of Your grace,
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