A Voice in the Wilderness
I have always been intrigued by Jesus’ cousin, John the Immerser. There is a lot to unpack about this “voice in the wilderness” from honey to locust to his clothing to his baptism of Jesus. That is without diving into his relationship with the Son of God. The online show about the life of Jesus and His disciples, “The Chosen” has brought more attention to this family dynamic as well. We all have that person or persons in our family that push the envelope as far as social guidelines. Some for better and some for worse but who is your John the Immerser?
I don’t have to look very far for my answer. My partner in this very website is my first cousin Ben Hayes. He is 9 months older than me and so he has experienced many things before me and faired well. So I naturally in most instances learned how to do it from him. Ben did not baptize me but he has had a tremendous impact on my journey with Jesus. He does currently have a beard so that doesn’t hurt. I’m certainly not Jesus Christ but have been encouraged to keep trying by my first cousin. I can remember showing up to several family events and my aunts and uncles answering my question about Ben’s whereabouts without my uttering a word. We’ve always been close but maybe never closer than we are now. Thanks to the internet. I do not know where I would be without Ben Hayes.
It is an important question of who fills that role for you. It is of utmost importance to answer the question “Who do you encourage?” Is there someone out there that you can pinpoint that knows you have their best interest at heart? Have you told that person? Are there others that could benefit from your encouragement and support? I’d be willing to guess those questions can be answered in the affirmative. Make the choice today to do the best you can in serving, supporting and encouraging just one more person. The wild thing is that the more you encourage the more encouragement you get without anyone really returning the favor. We know by the example of John the Immerser that “God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” (1 Corinthians 6-7 NLT)
Travis