“Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey…When he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” (Matthew 3:4, 7)
This is, hands down, my favorite picture of my son. I love his expression, his sense of joy, just everything about it. But I also love what it represents to me
Every time I read this passage about the John the Baptist (read all of Matthew 3 to get a fuller picture), I think, this guy must have been crazy, wearing his goofy clothes and eating this strange diet. He also must have ticked a lot of people off because he spoke what was on his mind, regardless of what people thought. As I was reading the text this week, though, I found myself really admiring him.
What would it be like to fully bethe person you sense God created you to be? To be like my son, willing to throw your arms out and cry out, This is me! I sense this is what John was like. Here I am! Called by God! I may seem odd and outside of cultural norms, but I am loved and created by God, which is the most important thing.
I won’t challenge you to do all of this tomorrow. But maybe in this next week, you can pray about a way that you can a little more fully you. It may entail a tough conversation with a loved one or the slight rejection of a co-worker. But you’ll be you, which, I believe, is what God most desires.