Contemplative Bible Reading

John 1:6-7 (New Living Translation)

6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.

There are many different things to discuss about this sentence. One aspect is, how do we recognize this person has been sent by God? Do these persons glow or have a halo or something? Nope, I’ve never seen one of those. Perhaps I wasn’t looking in the right way.

Absent the heavenly glow, how do I recognize a person sent by God? I believe that my wife was sent to me by God to give me a better life and to allow me to be sent by God. I had conversations over the years with persons that changed my life for the better. I believe God sent those persons and those words to me to set me right and allow me to be sent to others.

My trouble was that at the time I didn’t recognize the person as being sent from God. They were just “doing their job” as an employee of this or that. They were just standing in the right place. They were just some thing other than a person sent from God. Years later, though, I believe that these persons were sent from God. Just a few moments, just a few words from God.

That is what John the Baptist did. John didn’t live with groups of people for years at a time. Someone heard about this fellow who was somewhere outside of town. Someone went out there and listened to John for a moment or an afternoon before returning home. Someone else was traveling along the way where John was. While watering their livestock, they heard John say a few words from God. Their life was changed in just a few moments with just a few words from God.

Did these folks who heard a few words from John realize that John was sent by God? Some of them may have. I think that most didn’t. John was an interesting fellow in an out-of-the-way place who said a few words that stuck with you.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light. God still sends people to tell about the light. I have to try harder to notice.