O.k, so I'm going to try out this new thing I read about in a book called Habitudes. It's about reading a passage, and then journaling what the original audience responded, what principles are for all time, and what I need to do about it. Kind of public being on the web and all, but typing is easier than writing.
Passage Matthew 3:1-6
Their Time: John was preaching in the jungle, and people were coming to hear him. They were leaving the city and going to the jungle and being baptized in the Jordan river. John didn't dress cool either. He wore camel hair - I think camel leather would be cooler, but he wore the hair, all itchy. He did wear a leather belt, and ate bugs (locusts) and wild honey. So he wasn't someone you'd bring home to mom. His sermon was "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And the people came from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the Jordan district. Why? God's hand was upon him and he was appointed by God to minister. He was fulfilling scripture Isaiah wrote hundreds of years earlier.
All Time: Going with the flow isn't always God's way. John and Jesus really upset the religious establishment. But in John's case, it didn't matter about his clothes, his location, or his table mannerrs - his message was from God and people hungry for God came. Preach the truth. So I guess a principle is to be concerned with the message, not the messenger. Also, John was walking in his God-prepared destiny: preparing people for God. A timeless principle is to be concerned with pleasing God, not man [in v.8 John urges religious leaders to bear fruit in keeping with repentance]. The fruit of a changed life and a life living for God is timeless.
My Time: 1. make the message clear and speak truth
2. prepare people for God
3. live for God's pleasure, not man's
Lord, help me in all things to please you, to speak of your glory in a true way, and to love people in such a way that they desire you. God, may my life be for you - I pray that you take pleasure in me. Amen
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