Have you ever had one of those weird coincidences that just makes you wonder? Today’s devotion is a result of just such an occurrence – which I just had.
I have been reading the Gospel of John for a few months as part of my personal Bible study. With this on my mind I wrote a devotion that you will have an opportunity to read in a few days. The focus is on John the Baptist and his surrender to serving God.
Knowing that we needed a devotion for today I stopped some of the work that I was doing and grabbed one of my daily devotion books and turned to today’s date. The devotion you will read below is dated for the day in which I am writing; August 6, and I read this following the devotion which I wrote and will be published on August 11.
John the Baptist knew who he was and what he was called to be. “I am not the Mesisah; I am sent before him. It is the groom who has the bride. The groom’s best man waits there listening for him, and is overjoyed to hear his voice. That is my joy, and it is complete. He must increase, while I must decrease.
Who am I? What are my reasons for wanting to go on living? What are my goals, dreams, desires, aspiration? What is stirring, moving, surfacing in my soul? In a broad stroke of the brush, I would say, paraphrasing Thoreau, that as the hour of my particular sunset approaches, I would be appalled to discover that I had died without having lived.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians [1:21]
The above devotion was taken from Reflections for Ragamuffins, by Brennan Manning. If you would like to join a 10 day reading plan for these devotions please visit https://my.bible.com/reading-plans/1015-ragamuffin-reflections-from-brennan-mannin