Job Description

How would you like to be born to do a specific job? From the moment you were born you've know exactly what you're supposed to be doing. Your life is shaped by this knowledge; day to day decisions come under the scrutiny of relevance to your future. Will this help or hurt your future position? Is it really beneficial? I'm sure some feel like they have been there due to parent's hopes and expectations. What if your parents knew before you were born?

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:11-17 (NIV)

Did you catch that job description? It's pretty hefty. The part that hits me hard is the very last line, "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." This is the job description of John the Baptist, a man who Jesus called the greatest man ever born of a woman (Matthew 11:11). His job descriptionn is one of a forerunner. A forerunner is what it sounds like, one who runs ahead or makes a way before (no, not just a trendsetter), but John the Baptist is the living example of a forerunner. A little odd? Seemingly extreme? Worth it? You bet. But did you read his job description?

I may not have the same 'job description' as John the Baptist and it may not even come close. I do know that I want to live a focused life where the choices are continuously weighed against my destiny. I may not know all the details of my job description at this point but I do know that I am supposed to, "Love the Lord [my] God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4-6) and to love others (1 John 4:19-21). I will keep doing that (at least attempting it. disclaimer: I'm not perfect) ; living with the same weight as if my actions and inactions prepare people for the Lord. In that aspect I hope to be a forerunner.

Off I go.