6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
as the prophet Isaiah said.
24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
‘I believe materialism is our way of covering up our deeper fears of being alone, or being separated from loved ones, of losing a meaningful place in the world, of becoming ill, of growing old, of dying. [People say]: ‘I'm boring and I don't like doing it, but I'm going to do it until I'm fully vested, then I'll do what I want.’ That's not going to work. That's a bad life strategy....Later doesn't come, or it comes too late.’"
--Jeffrey Blum, Living With Spirit in a Material World(Fawcett, 1988).
One of the things I often say is that we all have a “God-shaped hole” that we desperately try to fill…with everything but God. Materialism, and the constant acquisition of “things” are our attempts to fill and complete our lives. When it doesn’t work, we move on to the next fad or product that promises to make our life better. And so on.
And then one day if will dawn on us that God is the answer and we will begin seeking a better relationship with He who is the center of all things. That is when our fears will no longer overtake us, and we will be able to live fully and joyfully, experiencing that “peace that passes all understanding.”
Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V.