“…the word of God came to John…”
Luke 3:2
Before John could begin his ministry, he needed to be equipped and empowered by the Word of God. Only after filling up was he ready to pour out. Though we don’t know how long he remained in the desert for this time of equipping and filling, we do know that the very next verse has him going forth to launch his life’s work.
The ensuing verses highlight the success of John’s ministry: Crowds came. The Word was proclaimed. Many were baptized.
When God’s truth is planted on the inside, it will naturally grow to produce fruit on the outside. Through John, the seed was planted in all kinds of people — including soldiers and tax collectors. After embracing the truth, the people needed to know how to live the truth. They asked John, “What should we do?”
True repentance goes hand-in-hand with a desire to live differently.
John, because he was equipped with the Word of God, instructed them:
- Share
- Don’t be greedy
- Don’t extort
- Don’t falsely accuse
- Be content
His advice, when heeded, would cultivate outward changes consistent with inward transformation.
The seed planted on the inside would bear fruit on the outside.
It’s noteworthy that John ended his list with a call to contentment. The challenges for these first-century converts seemed to all revolve around money — or a perceived lack of enough of it. Not much has changed in 2000 years. Money will never bring satisfaction or contentment. I love what Dave Ramsey says about money: “It just makes you more of what you already are.” When a generous person comes into money, their generosity increases … but more money only manages to make a greedy person even more so.
With our destiny for eternity settled and the indwelling of the Word of God, we can live satisfied and content in the here and now. As the seed of God’s Word is planted and allowed to flourish in our hearts and minds, it changes everything from the inside out. Perhaps it does not change the environment in which we live, but it changes us and our response to everything that surrounds us.
The power of John’s message and the success of his ministry all began with the Word of God. Whatever our calling today (and tomorrow and the day after), let’s make time to fill up first — to renew our commitment to Jesus, the living Word — so we have something to pour out.
God, fill me with your Word! Give me an insatiable hunger and thirst for it!
Let it be so entrenched in my heart that it flows forth on my tongue,
transforms my thoughts, and colors everything I believe and all I do.
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