Scripture: John 1:6-8 (ESV)
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light."
I have never gone orienteering. I have never had to navigate without a GPS or a map, but it is possible if you have a compass. The first compasses were developed in China, 200 odd years before Jesus was born. I find this remarkable especially when you consider that compasses weren’t used for navigation in Europe until more than a 1000 years later. The thing about the compass is that it cannot help but do what it is supposed to do. A compass needle always points north. You can shake a compass, spin it, or force the needle the wrong way and as soon as you set it back down, it will point north again.
I love these few verses in John because it shows us a man who knew who he was and what he was supposed to do with his life. He was like a compass needle. He pointed to Christ regardless of what happened to him. Now the John referred to here is not John the Apostle, who is writing this gospel. No, John the Apostle is writing about John the Baptist who came as a messenger to bear witness to Jesus. In fact we will see John the Baptist do exactly this, further on in chapter 1. When John baptises Jesus he will cry out: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
John the Baptist as unique as he was, knew he came to point people to Jesus. And he did. But what about us? I think that Christians can sometimes face the temptation to be more than what God created and called us to be. All of us are called to bear witness to Jesus, we are all called to be ready to give a reason for the hope we have, but not all of us are called to be pastors, teachers or evangelists. Perhaps this happens a lot in churches because we feel we need to compare ourselves to those “Super Christians” who seem to always have more to give. Maybe we feel pressured to fit into a role God didn’t make us for simply because that role has to be filled at church.
But John didn’t need to be the light in order to be effective in God’s kingdom. He had a role to play, but he was at best a supporting player. The same is true of us.
So don’t try to be something God hasn’t called you to be.
Prayer:
Father God, please help me discern how I can serve you best. Help me to follow where you are calling me to serve you. Help me to ignore all the other voice vying for my attention. I want to serve you exactly where you want me. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Think about what you are good at and what you enjoy doing. Where do these two things overlap? How might God be calling you to serve him through that?
Doing What God Made You For