Police Devotion 6-10-16
“But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John…For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord…And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.” (Luke 1:13, 15, 16)
Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, wanted a child, but she could not conceive. Now they were old. One day the angel Gabriel appeared to him and said, “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” The angel was talking about John the Baptist. Obviously, Zacharias had been praying for a child because Gabriel said that his prayer had been heard. We don’t know if it was still a matter of prayer by this time, or if Zacharias had given up praying after so many years. Yet God heard and answered his prayer with a child who would not just be “great,” but “great in the sight of the Lord.”
You’ve heard of many “great” people. Sonja Henie was a great figure skater. Harry James was a great trumpet player. Johnny Unitas was a great quarterback. Muhammad Ali was a great boxer. All of them were great in their own right, but earthly greatness is temporary. 1 Peter 1:24 says, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.” Sonja Henie, Harry James, and Johnny Unitas were big names in their day, but young people now may not even know who they were.
Why was John the Baptist “great in the sight of the Lord?” It is because he chose to be used of God to bring people to Christ: “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.” As a result of John’s preaching, many would turn to Christ and be eternally saved. That’s the big difference between earthly greatness and being “great in the sight of the Lord.” Earthly greatness has no value beyond the grave. Henie, James, Unitas, and Ali were great at what they did, but no one receives Jesus as Saviour because of their earthly greatness.
Being “great in the sight of the Lord,” however, has eternal value. God described John in this way because He wants us to be “great in his sight,” too. Sharing Christ is a work that’s “great in the sight of the Lord” and is wise and lasts for eternity. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3)
People may not consider John the Baptist a great man of history, but he was “great in the sight of the Lord.” You may never have the fame or skill of some famous “great” person, but witnessing for Jesus is far more important and “great in the sight of the Lord.” Long after earth and its honors are gone, people that God has used you to reach for Christ will be rejoicing with the Lord and with you in heaven.
Mickey Mantle was a great baseball player but a heavy drinker. His teammate, Bobby Richardson, was a born-again Christian. He spoke several times with Mantle about Jesus, but Mantle didn’t seem to take him seriously. Mantle was diagnosed with cancer one day. He called Richardson and asked for prayer. Near the end of his life, Mantle received Jesus as his personal Saviour. Mantle may have been a “great” baseball player, but Richardson’s work of sharing Christ was—and is—far more important and “great in the sight of the Lord.” (Info taken from Mickey Mantle’s 11th Hour Miracle by James L. Lambert)
If you want to see from the Bible how to have your sins forgiven and have a home in heaven, click “Helpful Links” on the top menu and then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 6/10/2016
Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822