These Amazing Days
by Dennis Burke
The days we live in are amazing!
These days are not unlike the days of John the Baptist. His were days of anxiety because of political unrest, but they were also days of expectation because of Israel’s hope of deliverance. Little did the people realize that their hope was on the brink of fulfillment when John the Baptist showed up.
We are introduced to John the Baptist, and God’s plan for him, in Luke 1:14-17, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias, John’s father, and made the following announcement:
"And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.... He will also go before Him (referring to Jesus) in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" ("New King James Version").
Ready On the Inside
When John’s ministry began, the nation was in a dark place, living under the consequences of weak leadership and the rule of another nation. Israel was in need of her Savior—the Savior they had been anticipating for centuries. God anointed John to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” John’s God-ordained job was to turn the nation’s attention back to the Lord and get them ready to realize their hope.
To make ready. That’s an inner thing. John’s task was to make the people ready on the inside, to turn their hearts, so they would be prepared for what was about to take place on the outside. He prepared them to receive the Lord Jesus!
Scripture says John’s anointing was the same anointing as Elijah, whose anointing caused people to sit up and take notice of the work of the Lord. Elijah’s anointing caused people to repent of their wicked ways and turn back to God. His anointing gave people hope for their future and caused them to see that their righteous God was working on their behalf. It made them ready on the inside to receive change on the outside.
Just like in the days of Elijah and John the Baptist, while we’re in the greatest times history has ever known, we’re facing some of the darkest times we’ve ever seen, heard of or imagined. In every walk of life, the enemy is at work trying to convince people that the way forward is the way of wickedness and darkness. But, thank God, there are people of God who walk righteously and are making the light and life of Christ evident wherever they may be.
In our day, these amazing days, people the world over need to take notice of God’s work. They need to repent and change their opinions of Him. People need to have their hope renewed and realize that God is working for them, even now. They need to be made ready and prepared for the Lord!
BVOV : 19
