ESOCS Devotional 7 June 2021
TEXT: JOHN 3:22-36
MEMORY VERSE: “Ye yourselves bear witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him” (John 3:28 KJV).
John the Baptist was honest and devoid of all manners of pretentions. He lived an ascetic lifestyle, and chose to dwell in the wilderness rather than the comfort of a home. He hated sin in all its ramifications, decried the unwholesome attitude of embracing sin by people, and pointed them to the Messiah. One of the sins he taught people to avoid in practical terms through his own example was presumptuousness.
He told them straightway, “I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.” But many people before and after him had deceived people and claimed to be the expected Messiah. John was different. In great humility, he declared, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matt. 3:11 NIV). When the time came, he humbly announced the Messiah, showed Him to the world, and testified about Him (John 1:29-37).
John practised self-effacement – the attitude of making oneself less important and exalting others instead. It is a good Christian virtue. It makes us one with Christ who did not arrogate any praise and glory to Himself but gave it all to the Father, and pointed people to seeing the Father as the ultimate in all things. The Bible says, “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Gal. 6:3 NIV).
Like John the Baptist, let us be mindful of these things and also cease from “vain glory” or conceitedness (Phil. 2:3; Gal. 5:26; 1 John 2:16).
- Be humble, and do not claim another person’s identity.
- Lord, help me to live an acceptable lifestyle to you.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: Exodus 9:1-12; 1 Kings 11:1-13; Revelation3:14-22
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ESOCS Devotional 7 June 2021
