People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.

Matthew 3:5

For Meditation

He burst out of the wilderness, dressed in clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt to hold it up around his waist. His food was locust and honey (Matt. 3:1-6). What a combination! He did not perform any miracles to attract people to him, yet they came, flocking to the Jordan region to hear John speak.

His words were sharp and cutting, rebuking them for their sins and telling them to, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (2). Regardless of the harshness of his message, people could not keep away from him. They had to listen – the Pharisees and Sadducees, the tax collectors, and soldiers. Everyone received their share of rebuke (Lk. 3:7-11). They were cut to the heart and repented for baptism in the Jordan (Matt. 3:6). So, what attracted the crowd and those people to John?

I want to suggest that John had the message that they needed to hear, and he spoke it fearlessly. He did not hold back. John saw himself accountable to God alone and looked for only His message. He was free to proclaim the very words God committed to him to speak. The Wilderness man had spent time alone with God and had received his dispatch orders. So, when John started his ministry, the Holy Spirit alone was his guide and keeper, and he spoke in His power and conviction.

Today, there is a famine of God’s word. The messengers of God speak what people want to hear and not what God wants them to hear. They have theatre-sized churches to fill, and money must flow. There must be no offense in their message because membership is fluid, and offering and tithes flow with it.

Others must speak what headquarters want them to say. The Holy Spirit’s leading is, therefore, seconded to corporate control. Yet, every preacher craves the power and effectiveness of John, the lonesome preacher. Any wonder they fake it with corporate-style finesse and rhetoric. Their time alone with God is to formulate and focus on their private agendas. Unsurprisingly, few hear from God.

O that we may seek God genuine in solitude for personal preparation and character shaping! For, that is what God wants from His people. We will then hear what the Spirit wants us to say to the people. It is the only way we can be genuine messengers of God with the freedom and liberty to proclaim the Good News with power and conviction. That is the only time the established order will begin to question its system and philosophies. People will then hear the Gospel and ask, “What should we do?” (Lk. 3:10; Acts 2:37; 16:30).

Until we free ourselves from the world and yield ourselves in complete submission to His Spirit, we cannot hear from Him or proclaim the Gospel with power and conviction. Maybe that is what we lack.