SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/8/2020
8:11 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The Manner”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 3:4
Message of the verse: “4 Now John himself
had a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather belt about his waist; and his food
was locusts and wild honey.”
Today’s
SD will again be a short one as we look at only verse four of chapter
three. It is the day that our family
will attend the funeral of my wife’s father and it just so happens that the
weather has turned kind of nasty, but we all know that the Lord is in charge of
the weather.
I
can remember the 1960’s pretty well and to look at the clothes that John the
Baptist was wearing as described in chapter four it seems that he would have
fit well into that time period, and perhaps even in today’s world. Living in the 60’s John may have even been
called a “hippie.”
John
was a spokesman for the Lord, but he surely did not look like the Jews that he
and then Jesus would encounter during their day. Think about the Jews would tell Jesus about
their ceremonial washing of hands before they ate, and the clothes that they
wore and compare them to John’s clothing and food. The food that John ate was perfectly
acceptable to what the Law of God stated about what a Jew should eat, but also
pretty different than what most Jews ate.
John
MacArthur writes the following “Those leaders were proper, well-dressed,
well-fed, sophisticated, and worldly. John obviously cared for none of those
things and even made a point of forsaking them.”
The
clothes that he wore were as plan and drab as the wilderness where he
lived. John must have been something to
see, but people would come out to see and listen to him just the same. John truly reminds us of Elijah the prophet
of the Old Testament, for he came in his likeness as the Bible tells us.
I
have to admit that the clothes he wore would last a long time and was perfect
for his life in the Judean wilderness. I
can imagine what the “proper” Jewish leaders had to say about John’s clothing
and lifestyle. In a sense it was a
rebuke to the Jewish leadership, something that they truly needed.
We
conclude with the last paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary on this short
section: “John’s purpose was not to turn
the people into hermits or ascetics. He
called on no one, not even his disciples, to live and dress as he did. But his manner of living was a dramatic
reminder of the many loves and pleasures that keep people from exchanging their
own way for God’s.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: John had a purpose for the way that he looked
and lived, and as a believer today I too have a purpose in the way that I live,
and that purpose is to cause believer’s to grow and also to tell those who are
not believers to become believers through the truths of the gospel.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire for the Lord to give me peace and
comfort as I do the eulogy for my father-in-law later on today. That God will give me the right words to say,
especially at the end of the message. I
continue to seek joy as I study and learn from the Word of God each day.
Today’s quotation from “Love in Action”
comes from Romans 12:14-15.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and
do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice and
weep with those who weep.
1/8/2020 8:35 AM
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