Matthew 3:5

New International Version

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

For Meditation

He burst out of the wilderness, dressed in clothes made of camel hair, with a leather belt to hold them up around his waist. His food was locusts 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 sharp and abrasive words rebuked them for their sins and urged repentance, as the kingdom of heaven was approaching (2). People flocked to him, no matter what he said. They had to listen—the Pharisees, Sadducees, tax collectors, and soldiers. Everyone received their share of rebuke (Lk. 3:7-11). His message cut them to the heart, and they repented for baptism in the Jordan (Matt. 3:6). So, what attracted the crowd to John?

I suggest John had the message they needed to hear, and he spoke it fearlessly. He did not hold back but held himself accountable to God alone and took care of 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 with His anointing with power and conviction.

Today, there is a famine of God’s pure word. The messengers of God speak what people want to hear and not what God wants them to hear (2 Tim. 4:3). We have theatre-sized church buildings to fill, and money to collect for maintenance and elaborate programs. There must be no offense in our messaging because membership is fluid, and offerings and tithes flow with it.

Others must say what their headquarters want them to say. The Holy Spirit’s leading becomes submitted to corporate control. Yet, every preacher craves the power and effectiveness of John, the lonesome preacher—no wonder we fake His anointing with corporate-style finesse and rhetoric. Our time alone with God is to plan and focus on our private agendas. Unsurprisingly, few hear from God.

O that we might genuinely seek God in solitude for personal preparation and character shaping! For that is what God desires for His people. We will then hear what the Spirit wants 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 question its system and philosophies. People will then hear the Gospel and ask what they should 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. But before you turn away thinking the message is only to the pastors, think again, for the rebuke goes for every one of us. What the pastor must do, the average disciple of Jesus must also do. How then can we discern and walk away from the wolves in sheep’s clothing? How then can we move away from being facilitators of the terrible system? God help us as we go into the weekend, looking to Resurrection Sunday.

Pray with Me

Lord, I repent and fall on your grace to deliver me from my itching ears and to desire your pure word to nourish my soul. Thank you, Jesus, for your love. Amen!