“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.” John 1:6

The apostle John uses this language to remind the reader that John was not the eternal Word, but was just a man sent from God.

John was not the Christ. Many would look to John for leadership, but his job was only to point to Jesus (John 3:30). Likewise, no one human can fix your problems. We often look to other for some type of validation or fulfillment, whether it be our spouse or children. This will always lead to further discouragement. Why? Because they are broken. Your spouse is broken. Your children are broken. All people are broken and in need of grace. Trying to find happiness solely in other fallible humans will continue the same problematic emptiness. Until believers find peace in Christ, all other relationships will be a futile attempt to distract us from a void that only Christ can fill. In reality, all relationships should be a catalyst for us to strengthen our relationship with our savior.

“He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” John 1:8

Furthermore, we often forget that at the end of the day, even the greatest man “born of women” was still just a man (Matthew 11:11). We all look amazing through the filter of our Facebook personna, but in reality each one of us have secret struggles that perpetually haunt our very existence. It is a blessing to know that even John was a man and seemingly subject to internal battles (Luke 7:19). Knowing this, let us trust less in self and more in God.

“Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.” 2 Samuel 23:5

Originally published June 2017