January 8th - Mark 1:7-8

Mark 1:7-8 John [the Baptist] announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!” It’s always great to see people who know what their job is in life and are happy to get on and do it. I am thinking of carpenters, car mechanics, ministers, teachers and accountants that I know – all sorts of people who have discovered where their gifts are best used and who happily devote their time and energy to doing the very best they can. That well describes John the Baptist. He knew exactly what his God-given role was: to prepare the way for the Son of God. He knew that he had a vital task to perform but that all the attention should go to Jesus, not to him. Do you know what your God-given role is? People often struggle with this question. They tend to be quite dismissive of what they’re currently doing. They don’t see it as very important. They imagine that God has something much more significant for them to do. I believe that we need to see everything we do as vitally important. God is able to use us, wherever we are, to bring praise to him and to encourage other people. As we do our work, we need to remain open to God’s voice. If we are sincerely seeking to serve God, he will want to show us how we can be most useful and effective. If you need to move into another role, I believe that God will show you. We simply need to keep our eyes and ears open. Until the time that God calls us to move on, we need to give 100 per cent to what we are doing now. John’s task was to prepare the way for Jesus and, whatever our work may be, we are always walking in John’s footsteps. We need to be preparing the way for other people to meet Jesus as their own saviour, Lord and friend. Question What is God calling you to do with your life? Prayer Loving Father, thank you that you have work for me to do. Help me to do it to the best of my ability and to take every opportunity to prepare the way for others to meet Jesus. Amen