[James Settle]

John the Baptist was the forerunner for Jesus Christ. He was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. I love the fact that he preached the gospel with truth and conviction. He didn’t have any issue standing up against for justice in his day, which eventually cost him his life. The devotion reminded me of Mark 10:29-30 which to paraphrase in a nutshell Jesus is saying anything we sacrifice in this life in service or devotion to the Lord’s work we will receive back multiplied in this time, with persecution, and eternal life in the world to come(James, 2019). We may not physically have to walk away from our immediate family, but we may have to walk away from their belief system to take on God’s.

John responded with bravery, but while he was imprisoned awaiting beheading he sent word by his disciples to Jesus saying, “are you He that should come, or should we look for another?” asking if Christ really was the promised Messiah (James, 2019; Matt. 11:3,KJV). When things got hard, even though John knew Jesus was the Messiah, his faith did waver. The beauty is that Jesus didn’t cast him aside because he wavered. He told his disciples to look at what they saw & heard with their own eyes & ears from Jesus. Then go back, report & tell John God blesses those who are not offended of Him, meaning don’t turn back because of the trouble you might have to endure. So I believe John stayed the course because of this reassurance from Jesus in the midst of a difficult circumstance. This is encouragement to me as well knowing even in our tough times He is with us and we just need to stay the course.

References

James, K. (2019). Holy Bible: King James Version, 1611 Edition.