December 16 John the Baptist Mark 1:1-8…Today in our daily Advent devotional reading, let’s pay attention to John the Baptist in all his camel hair wearing, grasshoppers and honey eating glory. St. Mark is known to be the most descriptive writer of the four Evangelists, and he shows this in the very first chapter of his Gospel.
What a visual he gives us for John the Baptist: clothed with camel’s hair, a leather belt around his waist, locusts and honey for nourishment. What does this description of John have to do with Jesus? I think it sets the scene for our Lord’s public arrival.
We know Jesus is a King—the King of Kings!
We know He is the Savior—God Himself!
But look who was chosen to baptize Him—a camel hair wearin’, bug eatin’, wild lookin’ man. Jesus did not come to save only the posh, polished and well-manicured. He came for the real day-to-day people too. Even those of us with wild hair and questionable fashion sense.
He came for us.
Jesus Christ came for us.
If we are waiting for Jesus in our “perfect”… we’ve already missed Him.
He is God…born in a manger.
He is God… obedient to his earthly, carpenter, foster father.
He is God…baptized by a man who lived off of grasshoppers and honey.
He is our God—ready, willing, and waiting to meet us right where we are:
stinky morning breath? Can’t be any worse than grasshopper breath.
worn out clothes? St. John the Baptist wore camel hair.
St. John tells us he was not even worthy to undo Jesus’ sandal strap—yet he was chosen by God Himself…to baptize God Himself.
Let’s go to Him. He’s waiting.
(The above reflection was taken from the Daily Advent Devotional for Women)
I’ve been feeling like we’ve been living off grasshoppers and honey the last year; only in our case we call it cereal and milk. A cereal and milk night around here means we’re at the bottom of the barrel because momma and the pantry only hold ingredients. Do you know those days? The ones where you have everything you need but you just can’t seem to put it all together to make something…I’m talking physically, spiritually and emotionally.
And you know what, those days happen. Those seasons happen. So we choose to live off cereal and milk and/or we accept help. Physically we say “Yes” when someone asks to do something nice for us. We let someone bless us. Second, we sort it out with God. And sorting, well it requires time. You know time…the thing we say we don’t have but if we really paid attention to what we do and when we do it…yeah, we’ve got time. If you’re reading this right now and I’m writing this right now…we’ve got time. If we’re taking a selfie…we’ve got time. Sitting in a drive thru waiting on sweet, hot treat…we’ve got time.
The problem isn’t lack of time…it’s misspent time.
The problem isn’t that we don’t have everything we need…it’s that we don’t allow the time we need to pull it all together.
John spent his time living simply so he could be a voice in the literally wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.
How do I spend my time? Am I intentional in living simply or am I just simply trying to live? How am I using my voice in this world and who or what am I preparing for?
Let’s take a quick little test. Let’s pull up our Instagram feed or Facebook timeline. Let’s analyze what we post…how often we post…and who we follow. And then let’s make the appropriate changes…NOW.
Let’s make that time for God, who literally made time (and eternity) for us.
Lux says
Misspent time could really bring about a lot of problem. It’s a domino effect. Especially at this time, we should be wiser.
Great points. 🙂
Jenny says
Yes, the domino effect! Then we spend time chasing falling dominoes…or time already past.
Lux says
Happy Christmas! 🙂