2 Comments

  1. Victoria Walters
    July 31, 2016 @ 5:49 PM

    I love how you pointed out how long John the Baptist was prepared for his ministry versus how short of a time he actually walked in the practice of his calling. I like to see it through the lens of seeing how much value God puts upon the brief moment in time that He has prepared for each of us throughout the scope of time.

    Remembering that eternity has no beginning or end, even those who have been given a ministry that spans decades (I’m thinking of Billy Graham…) truly have only a short period in history through which to impact the world with the message they’ve been given.

    With that in mind, I tend to believe the preparation time is just as valuable (if not more so) to the actual message delivery. After all, a message is far more effective if the one delivering it has truly lived it out. We all minister out of what we have been given – and part of what we’ve been given comes in the form of life experience.

    • Annette Vincent
      July 31, 2016 @ 11:05 PM

      So VERY true! We are who we are because of what we have walked through just as much as what is in our DNA. God created John special but his willingness to submit to the teachings of his father and mother, under God’s hand, and God’s direct teaching as a young man made him the man he was; the willing servant, the one crying in the wilderness. He could have said “No” to God’s plan, but he didn’t.

      His life was also a testament to the parents God chose for him. They could have ignored the miracles and let him put him on a different path, but they trusted and obeyed God.

      Our lives are all just a blink in the eye of eternity. I’m looking forward to seeing the canvas God has woven with our lives from His perspective. I wonder what the picture will be.