After John was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth, Zechariah could again speak. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to prophesy of his son:
“You child, shall be called prophet of the Highest: For you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people…”
In the time of John, greed, love for money and display were wide spread. Living a wild life of feasting, drinking, and sensual pleasures was causing disease, lessening sensibility to wrong doing, and benumbing the minds of the people to spiritual perceptions.
John was to go forth to give the people a new direction to their thoughts. Before John’s birth, the angel had said, “He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit…turning many…to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:15, 16). God had called Zechariah’s son to a great work, and to accomplish it, he needed the Lord to work with him. And God’s Spirit would do so if he heeded the angel’s instructions.
John’s abstemious life and plain dress was a rebuke to the excess of his time. He chose to live in the wilderness, away from the noise and corruption of the world, and which favoured habits of simplicity and self-denial. The desert solitude was a welcome escape from a society where unbelief, suspicion and impurity were prevalent.
While we can’t leave the world we live in, it is good for our spiritual health to daily seek a quiet place each morning, away from the world’s clamour, to study the Word of God, pray and meditate on heavenly themes. It makes the rest of the day go better. Taste and see for yourself.
If you have a question for Bible Mentor Marie Odell you can contact her by emailing: marieodell04@gmail.com
Marie Odell is a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
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