Preparing the Preparer

MONDAY July 14

Preparing the Preparer

The Lord made many predictions about the life of John the Baptist, saying even before John was born what he could accomplish in his life. This raises the difficult question: Was John predestined to do these things simply because God predicted that he would? In other words, did John have any choice other than to do what God had predicted? Though the question of God's foreknowledge and our free will has challenged theologians and philosophers for centuries (and so we certainly cannot answer the question right now), we can be sure of one thing: John needed a special preparation for the work he was to undertake.

Read Luke 1:80. What is found in the text that helps us understand some of the preparation John needed? What principles can we draw from here that could help us strengthen our own spiritual life?

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Luke 1:15 says that John would be filled with the Holy Ghost " 'even from his mother's womb' (NKJV)." And yet, even with that special promise, he needed the kind of preparation found in the harshness of the desert. Often in the Bible the desert or wilderness is portrayed as a place for spiritual discipline and growth. Here it was that "the word of God came to John" (Luke 3:2, NIV). Certainly, John became a man of prayer and later taught his disciples how to pray (Luke 11:1) and fast (Mark 2:18). He knew the importance of a spiritual connection to heaven.

The spiritual power John received from God allowed him to proclaim his message with great force. He was a voice crying in the wilderness or, according to the literal Greek, "bellowing like an ox."

As Jesus later suggested, nobody went to see John because he was some kind of weakling—" 'a reed shaken by the wind' " (Matt. 11:7, NKJV). On the contrary, they went to hear a man who spoke the truth with power and conviction. Take an honest look at your own spiritual life. How often do you pray? How often do you study the Word? How immersed are you in the world and worldly things? What changes do you need to make? Might you need to spend some time in a desert somewhere?