DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- THE ODDBALL

DAD'S RAMBLINGS  –  THE ODDBALL

"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness, and saying,' Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!''  For this is He who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight!'"  Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locust and wild honey."  (Matthew 3:1-4)

John the Baptist was given a special ministry and calling to prepare the people of Israel for the coming Messiah. He was born into a normal family, being the son of Zechariah the priest and the husband of Elizabeth, who was a relative of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus (Luke 1:36).

But John was different.  He was an oddball, a loner who lived in the desert (Luke 1:80). He wore frumpy clothes and ate a strange diet.  Being different did not hinder John from fulfilling his calling as a messenger preparing for the coming of the Lord Jesus.  In fact, it may have helped his notoriety as he preached his message of repentance.  People were drawn to this odd person. 

John's ministry was unique – a one of a kind calling to make the way plain for the first coming of the Lord Jesus.  We do not have that special privilege.  But John is a model for us as we prepare people to receive the Messiah.

We don't have to be an oddball to be a witness for Jesus.  But God does call us to be different.  His Word says, " 'Come out from among them and be separate,' says the Lord.  'Do not touch what is unclean' " (II Corinthians 6:17). Peter called the followers of Jesus a chosen generation, God's own special people, or, as the King James phrases it, a peculiar people (I Peter 2:9).  Jesus called us the light of the world, a city set on a hill (Matthew 5:16).  If I live like the pagans and no light shines, then I am the same as the rest of the world, and my testimony of the truth of the Gospel is discounted by unbelievers.  Holy, separated living enhances my witness about Jesus.

Love, Dad