June 28 (John 1:22-23)

So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”   the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”  (ESV)

I love the answer that John the Baptist gave when he was asked the fundamental questions about his identity.  He did not say something about where he lived or what he did for a living or who his family was.  These are the kinds of answers we give.  Instead, he answered the only thing that truly mattered, who he was and what he was doing in relationship to God.

Think about that for a moment.  We meet people all the time and get similar questions.  What if we answered them the way John did?  “I look after God’s people in the emergency room of the hospital.”  “I help people steward God’s money at the bank.”  “I am a missionary for Christ in the local school.”  “I keep the cars that God has given people in good working order.”

God has equipped each of us with particular gifts to do jobs specifically designed for us to do.  Yet it is not the job itself, or the gifts, that define us.  Who we are is rooted in our relationship with God.  Our speech and our actions reveal just how much we realize that.

Jesus, it is so easy to fall into habits of work and family life that seem to exclude You.  My true identity in You becomes just one more compartmentalized fragment.  Help me to speak and live the truth, that I am Yours and living for You every minute of every day.  Amen.

Copyright © 2015 by Steven R. Perkins