Tuesday 18 December 2018

John the Baptist a cause of rejoicing

 
The second of my Advent Devotions for the Christmas season.  
Reading: Luke 1:14-17.
 
'And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.'
 
John the Baptist, is rightly overshadowed by his infinitely greater relative but what an honour he had, for Gabriel tells his father, that John would be the cause of much rejoicing. Why would the Baptist be a cause of rejoicing? It is because he had the tremendous privilege of calling people to repentance. John’s ministry seemed like fire and brimstone, and it may appear there is no rejoicing in that. Yet, see the result, many within Judea were turned back to a relationship with God through John’s ministry, reconciled not only to God also but to each other.
 
The greatest privilege John had was to physically point away from himself to Jesus with those beautiful words, ‘behold the Lamb of God’. We too have that same privilege to not only behold but also to point to our Lord Jesus, who as Spurgeon said, ‘was always the sinner’s friend.’
 
Stephen <><

No comments: