Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand!

You who are living at the expense of others change your ways.

You who place yourself first before God and others need to                                                change your ways.

You who are growing rich off the work of others need to change your ways.

God demands your allegiance.

God needs your commitment to further his kingdom

God calls on you to change your ways.

Life is not easy being a spokesman for God.

I, John, have been called to be such a person.

I, John, have been told to forsake the way of an easy life.

I, John, have been directed to serve my God.

My home is simple.

I live in the wilderness.

I have no roof over my head at night.

I gather my food from the wilderness.  Locust and honey have                                become my common foods.

I wear the clothing of the desert made of camel’s hair with a                                              leather belt around my waist.

I travel by foot throughout the land and share God’s message to repent and announce that the time has arrived for God’s savior to appear.

I truly live a simple life so I can concentrate on God’s message and share it.

I was born under special circumstances.  The angel, Gabriel, visited my father and told him to expect a son—much the same as Abraham   had been visited.  Both were old men and had old wives.  Both laughed and said “No way.”  Boy were they surprised.  God can do all things—even provide a birth to an old couple.  Keep that in mind—God can do all things and we are part of team.

I understand from my parents that I met Jesus when we were babies.   Certainly our mothers who were cousins met before we were born.   I don’t remember anything about it but we are cousins so it isn’t a surprise.  My parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth are both descended from Aaron so I also had a priestly background.

But this isn’t where God wanted me.  I have been directed to be His spokesman and harbinger of one who is far greater than all of us. When the angel Gabriel spoke to my father, he told him that I   would turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.”

For a long period of my youth God directed me to live with a small group of fellow seekers after His truth.  I lived with the Essene community in caves where I could study the scriptures and pray.  God directed me to return to my base—the Holy Scriptures where         I examined the prophets.

My fellow disciples of God, as I returned to the Holy Scriptures and studied them with the help of the Essenes I was able to grow and understand what God’s message was that I was to deliver.  The   Essenes expected a messiah. During my time with them, I came to see that they held some views that were narrower than God was directing me.  They believed that the Messiah was to come from their ranks.  I was led to Jesus as the Messiah of all mankind.  They believed in communal living and I was directed to live in the desert with my followers and preach Jesus as the Messiah.

The other group that influenced me were the zealots.  They grew out of the Maccabean Revolt from 150 years before I was born and formed as an organized group about the time I was born.  I never joined with them but I did learn more about living on the fringe of society and grew in my rejection of the Pharisees and Sadducees because they attacked Jesus and collaborated with the Romans.  I did know a number of them including Jesus’ disciple, Simon, who             was known as Simon the Zealot.

People were constantly asking me if I was Elijah returned.  The Angel Gabriel had told my father that I would go forth “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” I did have           some of his mannerisms.  We both felt strongly that God was speaking through us.  We both spent much of our lives in the wilderness living off the land.  We each spoke loudly and with much power as spokesmen for God.  Neither of us worried about being crowd pleasers or cared what others thought.  We both had complete trust in God’s power to anything. God was speaking through us. Malachi prophesied that Elijah would return and prepare the way of the Lord.

Isaiah did not mention Elijah but reported, “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice of one calling in            the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight             paths for him.’”  I was directed to be that spokesman.

I was to make straight the path.

I was to be that voice in the wilderness.

I was God’s spokesman for truth and justice.

There is no question about the most important event in my life.   God gave me the privilege of baptizing Jesus, the Messiah.  I was       preaching on the banks of the River Jordan and recognized him      immediately when he approached me.   I knew several of his disciples and we had a nice reunion but the more             important event is the public announcement that Jesus is the Messiah.  I am merely his forerunner.  As I led Jesus into the river, I thought that he should be baptizing me.  He is the greater one.  He is the Messiah.  After dipping him in the river, the heavens open up and the Holy Spirit descended on him “like a dove” and I heard a voice       from heaven say, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  I baptized with water but Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Wow, what greater privilege could any man have than to baptize Jesus!

I spent the next several years baptizing people to follow Jesus and preaching against the sins of society and the Romans in general.  During this time, my message became the message of Jesus.  If Jesus was really the Messiah, then I need to follow him.  If Jesus was really the Messiah, then I needed to spread his message because it was the message of God to the people here on earth.  If Jesus was really the Messiah, then I need to obey Him as he was also speaking for God.

My message became clearer.  Jesus made it clear that what I was doing was correct.  I was obeying God.  I was speaking out against injustice and the sins of society.  I was trying to lead more people to follow Jesus.  I had been led by God to announce the coming of      the Jesus the Messiah, and I was to continue preaching the message that Jesus brought.  As I baptized people, I was helping them repent and face a new life that was controlled by God.

This message that Jesus gave me, is the same one that he spread to all people.  We are to love God and our neighbors.  We are to work to make the place we call earth a better place to live.  We are to care for the whole world God created and try to make it better.

God speaks through me.  Yet, not just me, but each and every one of us.  God calls us to be His spokesman in a sinful society.  This preaching cost me my life.  Herod Antipas married his brother’s  ex-wife.  I spoke out against this      marriage as he was marrying against God’s plan.  Herod had me arrested and held in jail.

While I was there I heard more about what Jesus was doing in the countryside.  I send some of my disciples to check it out and they          reported that Jesus was the real thing.  He was speaking for God, he was healing people, and he even raised a person from the dead.

Herod didn’t know what to do with me but ultimately had me beheaded to please his wife and her daughter.

After I died word of Jesus’s miracles spread and some people believed that Jesus was actually me, John, known as the Baptist, was      raised from the dead.  Herod actually concluded this.  Others         thought that He was Elijah and others thought that he was a prophet from the past and returned.  How wrong they all were.  Jesus is the Messiah.

As I look back on my life, I am never satisfied.  There are more people who need to hear the message about the Messiah.  There are too    many people living in total comfort while many others suffer for lack of food, shelter, and health care.  There are too many people taking advantage of others and hurting them.  God wants me to speak out on these issues.  God wants me to be active in making this world a better place to live.

I always believe that I should do more.  Baptizing Jesus was a great honor God gave me, but my main message is that we all need to           repent and obey the message of God.  God tells me that each of us needs to surrender to his will to take care of us.  We need to honor him.  We need to care for our fellow persons and make their lives better.  We can’t just sit back and do nothing from our comfortable homes.

This the message of Christmas.  It is honoring the Messiah but it is a call to action. Listen for God’s message to you.  Follow the path he     directs you and use all your time, talents, and resources to make His world a better place to live.     My message is a call to action.

REPENT and be saved

REPENT and help make God’s world in the image of Jesus.

REPENT for the kingdom of God is at hand

REPENT and become the servants of God.