August 27

John the Baptist


… he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will help many … return to the Lord their God. He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. He will make peace between parents and their children and will bring back those who are not obeying God, back to the right way of thinking, to make a people ready for the coming of the Lord.

Luke 1:15b-17 (NCV)


I want to be like John the Baptist, don’t you? Sure, he lived a wild life—living in the desert, eating honey and locusts. Certainly, his wardrobe left something to be desired. John was different, no doubt about it, but he had something so good and so pure. He had a passion for God’s kingdom. And Jesus took note of him, “of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist.” Wow. That says a lot. Greater than Daniel, David, Joseph … even Moses?

Why was John the Baptist so great? Spiritual healing. Healing that was so good, so complete it transformed whole families. He helped restore the most basic of relationships. He got people’s attention, and he restored masses of them to a right relationship with God.

Maybe you and I won’t reach the masses the way John did, but we can enjoy walking with God as he did. We can be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. To start down this desert path means taking to heart what John said—repent! Repentance like he preached means returning to God. For some of us, it means doing a 180-degree turn and setting our heart in a whole new direction. It means obedience. It means going His way … and not our own.

To be like John the Baptist means ... giving up ... on me!


Father, thank You for the example of John the Baptist, for his powerful words of truth and his reminder of what is MOST important—coming back to You! Amen.