May 8

In the time of John the Baptist, greed for riches, and the love of luxury and display had become widespread. Sensuous pleasures, feasting and drinking, were causing physical disease and degeneracy, benumbing the spiritual perceptions, and lessening the sensibility to sin. John was to stand as a reformer. By his abstemious life and plain dress he was to rebuke the excesses of his time. Hence the directions given to the parents of John,--a lesson of temperance by an angel from the throne of heaven.

          Desire of Ages, page 101 from the chapter, 'The voice in the wilderness'

     Have times changed? Sensuous pleasures, feasting and drinking? Have you watched Eastenders lately? How on earth would John the Baptist respond to an average Friday night on the town in Newcastle? We can have little idea of the effect of a man wearing animal skins – which I’m told is more than many wear – appearing among a crowd of revellers.

     I have no idea what I would do in response to such a sight. Perhaps becoming a Street Pastor would be an appropriate response these days. Training would be a part of the preparation. You would need to be able to assess risks and defuse situations.

     John had training for his role, preparation before the event. He would be given a childhood and youth of temperate behaviour. I love the idea that God prepared the power for each daily event. I love the idea that God sent the message of temperance by means of an angel.

     Have you ever thought that you have a message of temperance to the world around you? Have you realised that a person who does that is a messenger? Have you realised that as we pass on a message about temperance we are angels in disguise? The word for angel in Greek is …. Messenger.

     Go on, be an angel today. Help a friend develop a temperate lifestyle, offer them something healthy to eat. While you are at it, eat something healthy yourself and make an impression on your own body.

     Are you getting the theme for the week? Our song is, "What A Meeting In The Air" by The Speer Family with David Phelps and Guy Penrod. Please click on the picture to listen

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here