Sent by God - June 1, 2010

Good Tuesday morning! A bit hazy this morning. The haze is even more apparent from a high place. The town didn't give me its best view this morning; I'll have to try the early rising again tomorrow or the next day. I am learning the difference between the amateur and the professional photographer. Some things are out of my control, but the basic idea is to be able to repeat those great shots I get from time to time. A lucky amateur basketball player can make a half-court jumper now and again, perhaps in the desperate moments at the end of a game and perhaps not. However, the professional can make the shot more often than not, and is the one you pass the ball to in a desperate moment because you know he has a better chance of making the shot than you do. In my new hobby, I'm the one you don't count on to repeat the great shot just yet. I'll keep working on it. :-)

John 1:6 is one of the few verses that doesn't complete a sentence, but does say something interesting. "God sent a man, John the Baptist," According to the foot notes, the Greek reads, "God sent a man named John," Since John doesn't name himself in his gospel, we can infer that a man named John is the fellow who lived out in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey. What an introduction though, from God himself no less. How would you like to be introduced as someone sent by God? That would be quite the honor and would certainly give a person a feeling of importance. Guess what? God did send you.

Perhaps you didn't know your mission from an early age, as John the Baptist did, or you don't seem to have special insight as John did. You have the same message that John brought: repent, the Son of God is at hand! We live in a time when many need to repent and many face eternal death without the light of Jesus who is coming soon. Our message is the same one John the Baptist was given. We all point to the light of the world; from Abraham all the way to the final prophet or Christ-one who will walk the earth sometime soon. I believe the last prophet will be a Jew; called just as Abraham was to begin the nation and John was to herald the first coming of Jesus. The last prophet will probably be one of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses during the tribulation. God will send a man named... we don't know the name, but he may be alive even now.

What an honor for John to be the messenger sent by God to announce the arrival of Jesus! You and I may not be the last ones sent by God to spread the Good News, but sent we are and with that honor in mind, we have no reason to hang our heads in shame.

Praise God for the new day (and month)!

Bucky