John's testimony and ours

Brother John!  Can I have a witness? 

Then John [the Baptist] gave this testimony ... 

“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him” (John 1:32).  If I were to begin my testimony with what I saw, as John did, it might sound like this: I saw many people change in deeply profound ways.  I saw angry people become joyful people … ‘wasted’ people become wholesome people … directionless people now with wisdom and understanding.  What did you see?  What stirred in your life and awoke you to the possibility that Jesus is real? 

“I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me ...” (John 1:33).  I couldn’t possibly name all the people who told me who Jesus is!  There were so many!  Dave, Barb, Eric, Del, Jim, Cathy, Keith, Gary, Sue, Pat, Ed, Lisa, Mom ... these are just a few of the dozens upon dozens of people who told me of their encounter with the Christ.  And I am deeply grateful for each one who spoke openly of him to me, because I eventually came to know him, too.  Who told you who Jesus is?  Do these people occupy a special place in your heart yet today? 

“I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).  That’s all we need to do.  That’s all we can do.  Just tell people who Jesus is and how you’ve experienced him.  It is the Holy Spirit who will ignite the spark within their souls, just as he did in us.  He is the one who will breathe life into their spirits, even as we have received from him.  Do you think there’s anyone in your life who has been wanting to know him?  If you also have come to know this Son of God, can you simply tell others when the Spirit is leading you to do so?

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A personal note.  One of the great surprises in my life over the past five years is that realization that Jesus’ yoke truly is easy and his burden actually is quite light, just as he said.  It took three things for me to “get” this: 1) understanding and accepting the fact that God loves me very deeply and very proactively; 2) trusting and savoring God’s unconditional favor more than man’s conditional acceptance; and 3) recognizing that God opens ministry doors all around us every day – we just need to watch for them and step through them, and he will do the work through us.  Living in this freedom and love of Christ, we can all testify like Brother John. 

[Click here to see today's reading, John 1:19-34.]