Bible Besties | John the Baptist

Today’s Bible Besties devotion is about John the Baptist.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Mark 1:3

Devotion for Today

John was in prison. He had done everything God had called him to do and it landed him in jail. Was it worth it? That’s what he wanted to know. He sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask him if He really was the Christ.

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (Luke 7:22).

There was no mistake, John’s life mattered. He had done what he was called to do, and now the Messiah could take it from here. His job was complete.

John the Baptist has been my Bible mentor for years. I love that he was born simply to point people to Jesus. He knew his mission was to prepare the way for Jesus to come. So that’s what he did.

He knew his purpose. His purpose was to be an arrow pointing people to Jesus. And that’s our purpose, too.

While I’m not saying we all need to start eating locusts, but I think all of us should make a Bible bestie out of John the Baptist. John got it. He knew exactly what he was doing (even when that had consequences). He never shied away from telling others about Jesus. That’s what we can learn from John. Our lives will probably look 1,000 times different than his, but our calling is the same.

My pastor always says that our purpose is to know God and make Him known. That’s a different way of saying “prepare the way for Jesus.” We are called to tell others about Jesus so God can move in their hearts.

No matter which way you look at it, our purpose is wrapped up in Jesus. Jesus, Himself, told us to: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).

Both Jesus and John had the same message: Repent and believe.

Repent from your sins and believe in the One who can forgive them. John’s purpose had nothing to do with locusts or camel hair. It was wrapped up in Jesus. And ours is, too. Today, I encourage you to start hanging out with John the Baptist. Let Him tell you about Jesus and show you how you point others back to Christ in your own life.

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