Christmas is often expressed as a time to live without limits. John the Baptist challenges our generation with its rejection of boundaries. We don’t think to ask “Who has God made me to be?” but rather, “What could I make of myself?” John the Baptist knew who he wasn’t.
He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ John 1:19-20
God had shown John who he was, and he was content with that –
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”’ John1:23
In our society it never occurs to us that there could be a limit. We want the biggest, the best, the most, … Christians have christened this value to become: Having the biggest church, Having a strategy that will take the world for Jesus Christ, … Another name for this value is greed and with spiritual clothes it becomes spiritual greed.
The godly value that opposes greed is contentment. Paul writes
“Godliness with contentment is great gain” 1 Timothy6:6
John the Baptist did not go to the crowds in Jerusalem, but risked all on the passage the Lord had given him. He went to the wilderness. John was content to depend on God to fulfil the ministry He intended.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:6
Am I willing to receive the delightful inheritance God has given me with its boundaries?
One thought on “Christmas without limits?”
Thank you Derek, I appreciate your comments.
The more limited I have become through health issues, the more I delight in Paul’s reassurance “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” Philippians 4:11