Today’s Scripture: Matthew 3:13-15
“Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by
John. But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs
to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” But Jesus said, “It
should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John
agreed to baptize him..”
Words
of Devotion
We can picture the scene. John was in the wilderness,
preaching a very direct and challenging message: "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Multitudes responded, but John clearly understood that
his purpose was to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy and "make ready the way
of the Lord, make His paths straight" (vs. 2-3).
We can imagine John's reaction when he saw Jesus
arriving. This must have seemed like the moment for him to step aside and
let Jesus take center stage. So he seemed surprised when Jesus indicated that
he was there to be baptized. John responded, "I have need to be
baptized by You, and do You come to me?" (v. 14)
Jesus told John that he needed to be thinking about "righteousness." Their
actions that day were to "fulfill all righteousness." They
were to make sure that all the right steps had been completed, that
they'd acted in the right way and were doing what was right.
Here Jesus was setting an example. He was focusing on
the importance of completing prophecy and fulfilling His mission (as well as
fulfilling the mission of John the Baptist). He was demonstrating the
importance of righteousness and doing the right thing.
These are the patterns and principles that were
important to Jesus, and they should be important to us as well. We, too, must
be conscious of and focused on our mission and the purpose of our lives. We,
too, must focus on righteousness and completing our ministry—concerned about
pleasing God, always doing the right thing in His sight.
Today's
Prayer: Father, help me to know the things You want me to do.
Help me to be faithful to Your call on my life. Use me to impact others with
the Gospel. In Jesus' name Amen
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