Pointing the Way {GMG Reflection- Luke 1}

This past week Good Morning Girls started a new Bible study on the gospel of Luke 1-8.  This past week we studied Luke 1 which covers the foretelling of the conception and birth's of John "the Baptist" and Jesus. There were so many things that touched me through this narrative like Mary's faith and humility and how God even used Zacharias's doubt to build his faith and influence a whole population. But the thing that touched me the most was how the Holy Spirit filled John even as an unborn child, and how the Spirit empowered him for a life of "preparing the way of the Lord."

At the time when Elizabeth was pregnant with John, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given to believers and only a select few experienced filling with the Spirit which empowered them to accomplish great things. I compare this to today when the Spirit has been given to all believers with the same power and yet so few believers really utilize the power of the Spirit in them the way that John did.

Zacharias prophesies about his son John saying,
"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
~Luke 1:74-79 {NASB, emphasis added}

John's role was to prepare the way for Jesus.  And that preparation included giving people "the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins." He must have helped people to see their need for salvation and pointed them in the direction of where to find it in Jesus.

It dawned on me that John's calling in life is not so different from mine, or from any Christ follower.  Our lives should point the way to Jesus.  I cannot "save" anyone, but by the power of the Spirit in me, I can point others to the Savior. I can "prepare the way" for Jesus by providing "knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins" by sharing my own story. The story of how this sinner was redeemed, of how this sinner is daily being redeemed.

In fact, that is one of the purposes of this blog; to share my story, the story of how God works in my life  through parenting, through marriage, through friendships, through military life, etc. I hope and pray that my heart shines through in what I write here.  More importantly, I hope and pray that what I pour out of my heart, the joys/struggles/triumphs of motherhood/marriage/friendship/military life, in some way points the way to Him.

I have felt God challenging me this week to spend some time thinking through the story of how He has worked and continues to work in my life. I haven't written out the story and journey of my faith since I was in college preparing for an international mission trip.  God has been faithful to continue to grow me since then and I think it is time to revisit the story of my faith journey. I know it will be an encouraging exercise to look back over all that God has taught me and brought me through in the past 28 years and I look forward to sharing that with you soon!