Doing Our Part
"I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Luke 3:16
On a regular basis in my home, my beautiful wife generates quite the extensive "to-do" list. The list includes cleaning bathrooms, laundry, fix-its, vacuuming, dusting, yard chores, light bulb changes ... well, you get the picture. For any one person, it would be a formidable list, to say the least. Mercifully, however, one person is never charged with the whole list. We all get our own list. The alphabetized sub-categories are cleanly divided between the familial labor force. We all moan and groan equally. Yet, at the end of the day, we are all thankful for at least three things: none of us had to do the entire list, the house is clean, and mama's happy.
John the Baptist had a job to do. He was preparing the path for Jesus. He cleared out the overgrown vegetation of soulless religion. He cast aside the stones of self-righteousness. He filled in the potholes of diminishing hope. "One is coming", John said. In so doing, he made it perfectly clear that he wasn't the One. John had his role and responsibilities and Jesus had his.
Guess what? So do you and so do I. Paul tells that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works that he had prepared for us ahead of time. I like that. God has had us and his purposes for our lives in his mind for a long time. We're no fluke, no divine afterthought. We are part and parcel of a grand story that revolves around God's Son. Let's embrace our part. When we do, the mission is accomplished, the Kingdom is full, and God smiles.
Grace and Peace,
Tom
On a regular basis in my home, my beautiful wife generates quite the extensive "to-do" list. The list includes cleaning bathrooms, laundry, fix-its, vacuuming, dusting, yard chores, light bulb changes ... well, you get the picture. For any one person, it would be a formidable list, to say the least. Mercifully, however, one person is never charged with the whole list. We all get our own list. The alphabetized sub-categories are cleanly divided between the familial labor force. We all moan and groan equally. Yet, at the end of the day, we are all thankful for at least three things: none of us had to do the entire list, the house is clean, and mama's happy.
John the Baptist had a job to do. He was preparing the path for Jesus. He cleared out the overgrown vegetation of soulless religion. He cast aside the stones of self-righteousness. He filled in the potholes of diminishing hope. "One is coming", John said. In so doing, he made it perfectly clear that he wasn't the One. John had his role and responsibilities and Jesus had his.
Guess what? So do you and so do I. Paul tells that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works that he had prepared for us ahead of time. I like that. God has had us and his purposes for our lives in his mind for a long time. We're no fluke, no divine afterthought. We are part and parcel of a grand story that revolves around God's Son. Let's embrace our part. When we do, the mission is accomplished, the Kingdom is full, and God smiles.
Grace and Peace,
Tom
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