Grasping Identity
Soul Snack 110 ... Grasping Identity
'I baptize with water,' John replied, 'but among you stands one who you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am unworthy to untie.' Jn 1:26-27
Capturing attention is often a very delicate task. Yet, a rugged hirsute appearance was always going to help.
Feet cooled by the slow Jordan flow. The sand lapped by gentle glistening ripples. This certainly was a most pleasant place to talk. Levis and priests deliberately sent from Jerusalem had engaged this reclusive desert dweller. They were on an identity errand.
Questions of identity still frequent conversations about Jesus. John's correct understanding was as clear as the Jordan that he stood in. His identity correctly known and Jesus' identity humbly taught.
John's word 'untie', could be so pregnant! Reflect please for a moment! To move the 'i' in 'untie' simply 2 spaces to the left, gives 'unite'. One very small movement can make a whole new word, a whole new meaning. To re-position the 'I' is to achieve the opposite result. 'Untie' that is undoing, becomes 'unite' that is joining. John the Baptist had already moved the 'I', in his life.
I need to be humbled before I can be cleansed. I need to be humbled before I can grasp the true identity of Jesus. The hardest thing to appreciate is when I have the 'I' in the wrong place. The best thing to do is have 'i' in the correct place.