I am moved at the realization that John the Baptist’s message did not begin with
a call to personal nobility and fulfillment, 
a call to open our hearts to love each other, or 
a call to the restoration of a society’s moral greatness.
It was a call to repentance in light of the greatness and majesty of the One Who was coming, and the terrible, purifying judgment that accompanied Him.

“One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:16-17)

The people of John’s day were living in a transitional generation when everything was about to hinge on what these people thought, believed and said about Who Jesus of Nazareth is. Their eternal destiny rested on these thoughts and convictions… But no more so than ours do in 2023.

John’s call is as relevant to us today, as it was 2000 years ago. We too are living in a transitional generation. Our eternal destiny depends on how we respond to the arrival of this (now resurrected) Jesus of Nazareth.

Who do we really believe He is?

How much of our lives are we willing to lay at His feet in abject worship and allegiance?

Our repentance is our appropriate response to the revelation of how little we have (as of yet) given Him in light of what this holy, powerful and glorious King is so worthy of.
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JSB • February 24, 2023