Month: December 2015

Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. Matthew 3:8 HCSB

I typically enjoy having a small garden in our backyard. Last year we had an over abundance of tomatoes. This year the tomatoes did not do well, but we had a good crop of okra. In the spring we select small plants from the nursery that we cultivate with the hope they will grow into larger plants. When we planted the okra, each plant was only about two inches tall, but by the end of the season the plants had grown to approximately five feet. I even had difficulty pulling them up at the end of season because their roots were so big. I planted okra and enjoyed the harvest. Naturally, I expected the okra plant to produce okra instead of tomatoes.

John the Baptist encouraged his listeners to live lives that reflected change. He challenged them to change their behavior. He was basically saying, “Prove by the way you live that you really have turned from your sins.” God looks beyond our religious activities and our words to see if our conduct backs up what we are saying. We will someday be judged by our actions.

Challenge: Do your actions speak louder than your words? What type of fruit are you producing?

John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. Matthew 3:4-6 HCSB

I was one of the co-leaders of the Follow-Up Committee for the Billy Graham Crusade in Nashville, Tennessee. Each evening people from the area would flock to the stadium to hear Billy Graham speak. At the end of the message he would challenge the people to get up from their seats and come forward to the platform to confess their sins and accept Jesus as Lord. The people who came forward were counseled concerning their decision. It was our committee’s job to process the information gathered by the counselors, send a letter to the one making a decision, and send a letter to a local pastor so he could follow-up with the person making the decision to help him get involved in a church and be baptized.

Many people flocked to hear the message of the “crazy man” in the wilderness. John wore different clothes and ate unusual food. John lived differently from other people to show that his message was new and different. He not only preached God’s law, he lived it. Certainly, some people came to hear John just out of curiosity but ended up turning from their sins as they listened to his powerful message. Baptism was used as a symbolic expression of repentance and forgiveness. The people were turning from their sins, changing behavior, and turning to God. The Jews used baptism to initiate converts, so John’s audience would have been familiar with the ritual.

Challenge: Baptism does not save a person, but it is used as a public expression of what has happened inwardly in the life of a person. Have you confessed your sins and accepted Christ as your Lord? Have you been baptized as an expression of your faith?

For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight! Matthew 3:3 HCSB

I just finished watching the movie, “Killing Kennedy” based on the book by the same title written by Bill O’Reilly. The movie portrays that the plans for President Kennedy to visit Dallas, Texas were put in place months prior to the President’s visit. The secret service even discussed the tall buildings surrounding the motorcade and were hoping for rain so they could use a bubble on the President’s car. The weather cleared up and the bubble was not used, therefore exposing the President to the danger of a sniper’s bullet. The point is that it requires extensive preparation for the President of the United States to travel to any location.

John the Baptist challenged people to prepare the way for the Lord. John was the forerunner, preparing the way for Jesus to come. This verse in the Gospel of Matthew is based on Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah was one of the most influential prophets in the Old Testament, just as John the Baptist was an influential prophet in the New Testament. Both Isaiah and John the Baptist called on people to repent and turn from their sins. Those who listen, obey, and seek God’s forgiveness will find healing and the forgiveness of God.

Challenge: Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord need someone to prepare the way for them so they might understand and accept Jesus as Lord of their lives. Someone you know may be open to the Gospel of Christ. What are you doing to help prepare the way for him to know and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior?