Who would you say is the greatest person to ever live?
Automatically, I find myself thinking of Jesus of course. But interestingly enough, Jesus actually pointed to someone else as the greatest person who ever lived... Check it out...
'I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John'
- Luke 7 v 28
That's right. Jesus said his cousin, John the Baptist, was the greatest person to ever live. The guy living in the wilderness. Big bushy beard, scraggly hair. Clothed in animal skin, eating locusts, shouting "Repent!" at anyone who happened to be passing by. What could this crazy guy from thousands of years ago possibly have to teach us today as followers of Jesus?
Humility. That's one thing that I notice whenever I'm reading about John the Baptist in the New Testament. Check out the passage in Luke 3 when John's preaching to crowds in the wilderness. He's getting a lot of press at the time. John's got huge crowds following him, tonnes of people coming to him to hear what he has to say, and many many more wanting to be baptised by him. But it doesn't go to his head. Instead... he points to Jesus...
'one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie'
- Luke 3 v 16
This was a big deal for John to say at this time. Feet were the dirtiest part of the body, and taking off sandals was the job reserved for the lowest of all the slaves. John was taking second place, and he was putting Jesus first. This story makes me think... What's first place in my life?
Is God first? Am I second?
Pastor Mark Driscoll says that 'Humility is not being unwilling to aspire to greatness. Humility is being willing to aspire to greatness in a way that pleases God.' It makes you think. Am I living in a way that glorifies God? Am I aspiring to be great for God? Is God first? Am I second?
Check out this link to I Am Second - a website full of videos from different people and celebrities about their stories and how God is first in their lives.
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