Mark 1:1-8 - by Don Neuendorf
I will send my messenger ahead of you... And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
If you were to decide to start a new business, would you be OK if you planned NOT to succeed? That sounds crazy. Who would invest themselves in something that was just a dead end? Why spend the time and the headaches, when you could just work for someone else and get by?
Nevertheless, my father did that once...
I was in high school when my dad decided, out of the blue it seemed to me, to run for a seat in the Indiana State Senate. He had never been in politics before. He had no name recognition. He had no committee and no money backers. He had no party connections. He had no realistic chance of winning his party's nomination, much less the election. So WHY would he DO such a thing???
One simple reason. He wanted to have a platform from which to tell people what he thought needed to change in government. He expected to fail - in the election - but he expected to succeed in communicating his ideas.
God called John to fail. Think about it. He called him to a dead-end task. John was to go ahead of Jesus, but when Jesus' ministry began then John's would simply fade away. For a short time he might draw crowds, but then he would quickly decline. He would make no big money. He would not, himself, achieve any great goal. There would be no big finish. Even if he lived until the close of Jesus' ministry, he would not have been part of a successful ministry (in an earthly sense) as Jesus faced opposition and finally execution.
But John accepted God's call in order to proclaim the truth - even if it came with no trappings of success and no hope of great recognition or achievement.
What has God called you to? Are we failures if we don't see rapidly growing numbers? Mass conversions? Lots of offerings? Must we see a successful conclusion to a project or event before we can consider our service in God's kingdom a success?
God calls us to be, like John, a voice. Voices that speak about Jesus and point to him. The "success" belongs to the Holy Spirit and occurs in places that we cannot see - in the recesses of the human heart.
So... have a little honey with your tea today. Maybe wear something scratchy (assuming you don't own any camel's hair). And remember, you have a noble and wonderful calling - and day by day God can use your every word and deed.