Bible Series 2010: John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus: Matthew 3:1-12

I can still remember that one Sunday morning at Mount Carmel Christian Church when I had made the decision to walk down the aisle to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  Many of my friends and family would ask me, "Why did you make such a life changing decision?"  The did so, not in disgust for my decision but was wondering only, "why?"  There is so much I want to say and asking myself many times, how do I explain myself.  I, at first, would find it hard to answer the question as I would usually find myself getting tongue tied.  However, the answer is easy:  My life, I felt was leading me into disaster.  Since childhood, I had a phobia about death and did not want to die, so, I would find myself in a state of anxiety a great deal and never knowing the answer.  It took me years to find the answer's and lo and behold, I found it.  I was living a life without my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  As Jesus Christ states in John 3:16:  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  This is such a great verse.  With it, I have no fear of the unknown and my phobia about death has completely disappeared. 

This is not the all-inclusive reason for me accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  As I learn more and more about Jesus' teachings found in the New Testament and through His gospel, it only makes complete sense.  It also makes sense because the prophets in The Old Testament also prophesied about the coming of the Lord and the Messiah.

So, on March 3, 2003, I was saved by accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and accepting the truth that He is the Messiah.  I was then baptized and it felt as if a major league sized burden has been lifted off of my shoulders because of what Jesus Christ did when He went to the Cross to die for me and all of people kind by accepting our sins and transgressions and placing them on His shoulders.  

So, back to John the Baptist and his preachings in the Desert of Judea.  "In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near."" This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare for the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him." 

John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey.  People went to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.  Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees  coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them:  "You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children of Abraham.  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance.  But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  Matthew 3:1-12, NIV, Life Application Study Bible.

Wow.  This is sort of like that Sunday, when I attended service at Mount Carmel.  When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and then was baptized, I learned that my old life was gone and a new one was brought forward.  I was now ready to "Walk the Walk, and Talk the Talk," and know that I could talk with God and learn about my new life.  I pray daily and I read scripture which is the Word of God.  No longer do I have to answer the question, "Why don't you believe in Jesus Christ?"  Because, I do and I know that He is in my heart and that He is my strength!

David Brown
Grayson, Georgia
Friday, December 3, 2010