Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. (Matthew 3:4-6 NKJV)
He shows us the image of John who heralds the coming of The Lord. He is not a picture of affluence. He is one wandering in the wilderness of ordinariness. He lived dependent on God's provision of grace, sustained with locusts and wild honey, and warmth by camel's fur. He's a man of simplicity drawing people of diversity from Jerusalem, all Judea and all the region of Jordan. People who acknowledged their filthiness - willingly surrender in baptism for the cleansing of their sins.
Such a trite message for us in this timely moment, standing at the brink of time, with fingers ready on the re-set button to enter a new season. Looking back the old changing seasons, thanking God for each meaningful and precious moments we had, it is always useful to step into that spot of truth to confess the things we have done wrong. Own it. Surrender it to God. It must be done in full honesty. To use as illustration, not to diminish the seriousness of sin, our confession should be like that moment when Steve Harvey made the terrible mistake of crowning the wrong lady as Miss Universe. Though he could have made excuses or blame the design of the results card he was reading, he did not. He faced up to it squarely. He swiftly climbed back to the spotlight of the world like a wet puppy. Humiliated maybe. But he owned his mistake. Took full responsibility of it. And apologized to all concerned, most specially the confused, devastated and humiliated ladies. And in the end, everyone came out unscathed, forgiving and lifted up. Grace stepped in.
Yes, that's what we do, with our imperfection and frailty. We sin. We slip all the time. We fall short of God's glory. (Romans 3:23). But as the redeemed of the Lamb by grace through faith in Christ, He provides us a way of recovery. It is written: "If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. (1 John 1:8-10 MSG)
