3:4 - "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight." In the same way that John went before Jesus to prepare the hearts of people to accept him...we need prepare the way for non-believers around us to accept Christ. We can make the path to Jesus straight through the way we live out Christ daily. Every Christian who lives in hypocrisy places obstacles in the path of the non-Christian on the road towards Christ. Prepare the way...don't turn them away.
3:8 - "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance." This means that our lives should actually reflect the fact that we have been changed by Christ. It should look like the sacrifice of Christ means something to us...it should change the way we live.
3:10 - The crowds ask John, what do we need to do to change and John gives them some standards to live by...some standards every Christian should carry around. If somebody has none of something you have two of...give it to them. If you have something somebody else needs - help them. Don't take advantage of the power you have...treat people fairly...accept what God has given you and don't be greedy. Pretty good words to live a life by.
with the Holy Spirit and with3:16ff - "John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you fire. but the chaff he will burn with His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, unquenchable fire." I heard Rob Bell say once that sometimes the flames of heaven are hotter than the flames of hell. Sometimes the path of Jesus...the way that he wants us to follow is a path so terrifying and difficult, that many will refuse to walk it. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, and if you are not ready for things to change when that comes upon you - you'll be burned up...you will walk away from the fire that wants to burn everything unnecessary away. But the path of Jesus is the only path to true life.
2 comments:
I used to see a lot of Christians, including myself sometimes, getting caught up in hypocrisy. Even the little things like laughing at profane jokes can give non-believers the wrong idea about Christians in general and can turn them down the wrong path.
The flames of heaven are hotter than those from hell. I see this, and I believe it. It is not easy to live for Christ. No one said it was. I can genuinely say it's the best way to live, but not necessarily easy. It is a long, hard, painful process, but it is the way of truth. Thank you Father for the people in my life who have shown me your way. I thank you for placing in me a desire for truth; a desire for something that will last beyond me; a desire for eternity. And I thank you for only placing one possible way of accomplishing this desire: through your son. I love you...
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