"It's NOT about ME!" March 28 Readings: Deuteronomy 33-34, Luke 3:1–22, Psalm 39:1-6, Proverbs 9:13-16
Reading the Bible in 2023
Each day this year we will read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a portion of the Psalms, and part of Proverbs. By the end of the year, you will have read the entire Bible. We read this way to give you a bit of variety. In reading four portions of God's word in a day, one of them is bound to speak to your life!
NOTE: if you get behind, do not give up. Read today's readings and try to catch up when you have a chance. The goal is not to "accomplish a task" but to meet God in his word. Read the word. Also, if you are short on time, READ GOD'S WORD and skip my devotional!
Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 33-34, Luke 3:1–22, Psalm 39:1-6, Proverbs 9:13-16
Scriptures linked to Bible Gateway in ESV version
Daily Devotional: It's NOT about ME!
Our world has fallen prey to the Andy Warhol concept that everyone will have his "15 minutes of fame" and many people live for that - to "go viral," to achieve fame even if it is for something shameful or disgusting. Fame is now our measure of significance.
But John the Baptist took that idea and slapped it upside the head...hard. He became famous but he never sought it. He never did a single thing to make himself famous and he never served fame - he served God.
He was a humble man, dressing simply and living in the wilderness. He preached a hard message, not one that people wanted to hear. The key to a false prophet's message was always this - he told people what they wanted to hear. "You are great just the way you are - don't ever change." "God will never judge sin because he loves us too much." But John proclaimed truth, judgment, and reality without any concern for the status of the people he was preaching to or how he might offend. Matthew 3:7 tells us how he called the self-important Pharisees and Sadducees a "brood of vipers" (the language Jesus would later pick up); not exactly a way to win friends and influence people. He confronted average people and tax collectors and soldiers (who had real power) and didn't back down from any of them.
His life was not about him, it was about Jesus. That was no motto, no t-shirt, and no Facebook status for John, it was his life. God's glory and the coming work of the Savior were all that mattered. He did not back down even when later it would cost him his head.
Are you a man or woman of God? Am I serving my own purposes or the purposes of God? Am I building my kingdom or the kingdom of God? Do I care more about whether people like me or whether they come to Christ?
I do not plan to wear camel's hair or eat locusts, but I need much more of the heart of John the Baptist in my soul.
But John the Baptist took that idea and slapped it upside the head...hard. He became famous but he never sought it. He never did a single thing to make himself famous and he never served fame - he served God.
He was a humble man, dressing simply and living in the wilderness. He preached a hard message, not one that people wanted to hear. The key to a false prophet's message was always this - he told people what they wanted to hear. "You are great just the way you are - don't ever change." "God will never judge sin because he loves us too much." But John proclaimed truth, judgment, and reality without any concern for the status of the people he was preaching to or how he might offend. Matthew 3:7 tells us how he called the self-important Pharisees and Sadducees a "brood of vipers" (the language Jesus would later pick up); not exactly a way to win friends and influence people. He confronted average people and tax collectors and soldiers (who had real power) and didn't back down from any of them.
His life was not about him, it was about Jesus. That was no motto, no t-shirt, and no Facebook status for John, it was his life. God's glory and the coming work of the Savior were all that mattered. He did not back down even when later it would cost him his head.
Are you a man or woman of God? Am I serving my own purposes or the purposes of God? Am I building my kingdom or the kingdom of God? Do I care more about whether people like me or whether they come to Christ?
I do not plan to wear camel's hair or eat locusts, but I need much more of the heart of John the Baptist in my soul.
Father, may I be faithful, bold, and devoted like your servant John. As he prepared the way of the Lord, may my life be about helping people come to know the Savior, that a way might be made for them to come to him.
Consider God's Word:
Did one of these passages speak strongly to you today? Which one?
Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed and dealt with that was revealed in one of these passages?
Is there a struggle in your life that one of these passages spoke to?
Think about your life, your priorities, the way you spend your time. Is your passion that of John - making a way for the Lord? Or are you living selfishly, devoted to your own will and ways? A healthy time of prayer and self-reflection would be helpful today!
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