There was a man named John who was born around the time that Jesus Christ himself would be sent to earth. He was told by God to go and prepare the way for Christ to be introduced to the world. Although that was his mission, people were still drawn to John because he was powerful in his message and carried himself as someone who was God’s representative.
One day, they asked John who he was and said, “Are you the Messiah?” John was presented with his opportunity to take a leading role in the story and have everyone give him the attention instead of Jesus. But John simply said “I am not the Christ (Messiah).” Then they asked an important question that we all must answer at some point in our lives, “Who are you then? What do you say about yourself?” John’s answer is what amazes me. Many people would have taken that opportunity to share their many credentials and why they qualify to be chosen of God to play such an important role in history. John simply says,
“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.”
John 1:23
If you continue to read the story, you’ll realize how important John really was. Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself, says this about him, “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist.” We can conclude then that John could have answered the question much differently, however, he simply called himself the voice of one.
I realized reading this that we all have the same calling as John the Baptist, we are all to be the voice of one – someone. There is someone that needs your voice today to speak to them words that will give them hope, encouragement, and faith that God is with them and that everything is going to be okay. Or you could simply just remind them of who they are and how blessed they truly are even when things are not going their way. I encourage you to take time to listen for the opportunities that will certainly arise today where you can choose to be too busy or to be a voice of one.
The best part about John was that he was actually a voice that drew people to himself in order to ultimately introduce them to Jesus. I believe this is one reason Jesus said there was no one greater than John. He was the first person who was privileged to introduce the King to the world and that was simply enough. John actually had disciples (followers) of his own and this is what happened when John introduces Jesus,
“And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”
– John 1:37
Those who followed John, simply left and started following Jesus…and that was okay with John because he understood it wasn’t about him. He was simply a voice to help them find what they were really looking for. May we remember to be a voice of one each and every day. Even better, may our voice cause the people we encounter to want to follow Jesus.
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