[ Today's Readings ]
John the Baptist may seem like a figure out of reach. He might seem to be a super hero of, well, biblical proportions. We may think it OK to excuse ourselves if he is a voice in the wilderness and we are just a faint whisper.
The reason John is able to be what he is is because he trusts in the love God has for him. God has the same love for us.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
Because he trusts in the love of God for him John also trusts in the purpose that God gives him.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
It is not because he thinks so highly of himself that John is able to take the message of the LORD to the wilderness and to the world.
What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet
It is precisely because he thinks of himself very little and instead trusts in the LORD. The LORD has the same love for us as he for John the Baptist. He has similarly exalted purposes and vocations for each one of us. We need to have the faith, trust, and humility of John so that we too can be "a light to the nations" that the salvation of the LORD may reach to the ends of the earth.
When we trust in the LORD's plans for us we find that our mouths are opened and our tongues our freed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
We reveal the hand of the LORD at work in the world just as we are meant to. Let's not think too little of our destiny. But let us be humble about our part in it. Let us trust in the LORD to do all he desires in us.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
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