June 16

John was acquainted with the events that had marked the birth of Jesus. He had heard of the visit to Jerusalem in His boyhood, and of what had passed in the school of the rabbis. He knew of His sinless life, and believed Him to be the Messiah; but of this he had no positive assurance. The fact that Jesus had for so many years remained in obscurity, giving no special evidence of His mission, gave occasion for doubt as to whether He could be the Promised One. The Baptist, however, waited in faith, believing that in God's own time all would be made plain. It had been revealed to him that the Messiah would seek baptism at his hands, and that a sign of His divine character should then be given. Thus he would be enabled to present Him to the people.

          Desire of Ages, page 110 from the chapter, 'The baptism'

     There are some very significant words in this passage. John “… knew of His sinless life, and believed Him to be the Messiah; but of this he had no positive assurance.”

      Consider this, John has had all of the advantages. He has grown up with believing parents with the best possible support from God. Home schooled and living in a country environment you would recognise that this man would get the point straight away.

     Note that even those with the greatest of advantages still function on the basis of faith. They have heard all the stories and have the assurance but still, it is faith they rely on.

     The next step is that the man who might still have doubts is still trusted by God with a special message, that John was to baptise the Messiah.

      When we are thinking of the next step in our life we should not look at our doubts but remember God’s faith and trust in us. We can move on knowing that the next move will be taken hand-in-hand with God.

     Your song for today fits with the reading really well, Ray Boltz sings, “Dare to believe’. Please click on the picture to listen