Read today’s scripture here: Luke 3:1-20

Today’s blog written by: Deborah Bradley

Sometimes I’ll hear comments from other believers about effective ways to share the gospel or reach a broken world for Christ.  None of them have been to remove to the wilderness.  “Brood of snakes” is never allowed, and calling public leaders to task is a no-no.  Then comes John.  A lot of people hear about the camel-hair clothes and the strange diet (see Matthew 3), and begin to paint a picture in their mind of an eccentric yeller who was frothing at the mouth, a little crazy at best.  That may be the safest answer, because if we saw John as a reasonable person fully in possession of his wits and otherwise “common”, we might have to approach what is really scary: what if God asked from us the same kind of devotion that would be literally willing to look crazy, speak out loudly, and put yourself in danger?  What if this was sometimes the way to clear the path for God to begin His greatest work?

The result is stunning, isn’t it?  Crowds came.  Crowds!!  Corrupt tax collectors, established soldiers, and crowds came to be baptized, to ask “what should I do?”  … to a man who lived in the desert and yelled.  Humanly speaking, this is unexplainable.

The lesson here is not that everyone should abandon civilized life and live in the woods.  Jesus didn’t.  But both John and Jesus followed the Holy Spirit wherever.  We … I need to be careful never to lead Him, to box Him in for myself or anyone else