August 4, 2015
You Were Born to be Great
Gwen Smith
Today’s Truth
Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar (Psalm 138:6)
Friend to Friend
He stood out like a sore thumb. Created and set apart by God for a specific task. A great task. The greatest. To prepare the way of the Lord. A human megaphone for Jesus, John the Baptist spoke words of maximum volume as he pointed others to the One and Only and prophetically authenticated the divinity and eternal nature of Christ.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, ‘This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” (John 1:14b-15)
John knew who he was and he knew who Jesus was. He was all about Jesus. Unashamedly unique, he didn’t cave to comfort, popularity, expectations of others, or tradition. Instead, he walked in obedience to God and sought to make much of the Messiah.
He was an odd fella who ate some seriously unconventional food. I’m down with the honey that he was fond of, but I’d stop way short of snacking on locusts. Seriously. It just wouldn’t even cross my mind to put a big bug in my mouth for nutrition. Just saying.
And then there was his equally notable fashion sense. Pretty sure his clothes caused more than a few eyebrows to rise. Camel’s hair was not necessarily the fabric of choice for the average Hebrew man in his day.
Clearly, fitting in was not his forte – nor his priority.
He was different. Probably not the first one picked for the dodge ball games at Hebrew school and possibly the target of teasing. Your breath smells like stinky bugs! Who knows? What we DO know about John the Baptist is that he was born for greatness, not for average. He was set apart from the masses and was given the holy mission to make the glory of God known through Jesus Christ.
So are you.
Just like John the Baptist, you were born for greatness with a unique calling. And your calling is to know God and to show God. It is about the magnification of His majesty.
It doesn’t matter if you have cool hair, thin hair, nappy hair, or no hair. It doesn’t matter if you are a vegan, if you follow the Paleo diet, or if you eat bugs. {I lied. Bugs might matter.} It doesn’t matter if you shop at Macy’s, Marshall’s, or Walmart. Whether you run with the in crowd, the calm crowd, or no crowd. None of these earthy things matter in the big picture of your call for greatness.
I hope you realize this.
We want to be great. I know I do. Yet, the trap becomes the comparison of our accomplishments, our relationships, our homes, our bank accounts, our Bible Studies, and even our churches to those around us.
We want to be the best.
We want to be the best employees, work for the biggest fortune 500 companies, attend the largest mega churches with the most popular pastors, have the hottest bodies, and parent {or grandparent} the smartest, cutest, most awesome kids.
I am so guilty!
The greatness of the call on John the Baptist’s life was, in fact, all about humbly serving and directing others to Jesus. And that is the greatness of the call on my life and yours too.
John shows us that the secret to having all the greatness we long for is found in elevating God and making a big deal of His eminence. He turned selfish ambitions upside down when he pointed us to the paradox of the Christian faith. To be great in God’s eyes, we have to get over ourselves and become the least.
Let’s Pray
Lord, Please refine me to think, respond, and live humbly. Let my life be an arrow that points to Your greatness.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Read John 3:30, then answer this question. What is one thing you could do today that would point to the greatness of Jesus?
Visit my blog or Facebook page to share your answer. {And by the way, I can’t wait to read your answers! I’m curious like that.}
More from the Girlfriends
Struggling to see your potential for greatness?Learn how God wants to bring you beyond your past heart-wounds and your present challenges to His wholeness, strength and beauty. Broken into Beautiful is a book filled with stories – real stories … gritty and honest, not cleaned up and phony. It’s also filled with Scripture that will inspire you toward the life-changing grace of Jesus. To order the book, go to Amazon or, for a signed copy, visit Gwen’s web store.
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