John the Encourager

Luke 3: 10-14 ~ And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

John was not only a baptist he was an encourager! He was telling his community about Jesus, encouraging their generosity, honesty and concern with one another; he encouraged me this morning!

As I was looking at the stats for the Jesus Chick sight I found it interesting that the blog post with the highest number of hits was one titled “Hold On!”, where I encourage my readers to hang on in the face of the adversity of the day. I found it interesting, not because so many people had read my blog, but that what the people needed was encouragement. As Christians we speak so often about the degradation of the world around us that it’s a discouragement to the believer. While it’s true, we still need to exhort one another daily.

Hebrews 3:13a says – But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day;

Yes, there’s bad news all around us, but within you the Good News reigns. We have the ability to turn someone else’s life around today, and in that process bring joy to our own souls.

How?

If you have something extra, give it to someone who has less.

Feed the hungry.

Expect nothing extra, don’t be greedy.

Be kind to everyone.

Be content with what you have.

What wonderful advice and each one with its own reward.

I read a book 25 years ago by author Robert Fulghum: “All I Need To Know I learned in Kindergarten.”What made it so intriguing that I couldn’t put it down was his simplistic message:

• Share everything
• Play fair
• Don’t hit people
• Put things back where you found them
• Clean up your own mess
• Don’t take things that aren’t yours
• Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody
• Wash your hands before you eat
• Flush
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you
• Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some
• Take a nap every afternoon
• When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together
• Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really know how or why, we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
• And then remember Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.

John the baptist’s message was far shorter and simpler, and even more effective. I’d say the readers of John the Baptist’s stories have far, far exceeded Fulghum. As for Robert Fulghum, I’m not so sure about his life at this point. During my reading of his series of books he seem to stray away from his faith. Sad. I hope I’m wrong on this point.

John the Baptist died for his.

All Christ asks of us is that we live for it. That’s not too much is it? Encourage one another today. I love you. Really