READING:
One-year plan: 2 Samuel 18-19, John 1:1-28
Two-year plan: Numbers 16, Mark 10:1-16
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Most of us wrestle at some level with pride. The issue is tough enough within our hearts, but it’s even tougher when others think we’re something – and tell us so. It doesn’t take much external praise for many of us to internalize it into ego. That’s why the humility of John the Baptist is so intriguing and amazing to me.
Some apparently thought he was the Messiah. Others thought he was Elijah. Some wondered if he were the prophet Moses pointed toward (Deut 18:15). I suspect none of us has ever faced such speculations and questions—and I seriously question how many of us would handle the pressure of potential ego were we to ever face such considerations. John, though, knew his role: he was to pave the way for One greater than he.
Maybe that’s where we most struggle. Too many of us would rather have the way paved for us than pave the way for someone else.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How about you? How willing are you to pave the way for someone else?
PRAYER: “God, help me always to pave the way for others to follow You.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: 2 Samuel 20-22, John 1:29-51
Two-year plan: Numbers 17-18, Mark 10:17-31