And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)
In the Bible, from both the Old and New Testaments, there were two women who longed to have a child but were well past the age of childbearing. God came to them and their husbands and said they would give birth to sons. They were told their sons were to be set apart for God from birth, and they were given specific instructions on how they were to be raised. From the moment they were born, God placed a special anointing on them as well as His spirit, for their roles in His Kingdom on Earth. One of these sons, from the Old Testament, was named Sampson. The other was referred to as John the Baptist, whose story was chronicled in the New Testament.
Sampson was given great strength and power and was to use the gifts God had given him, to be the appointed Judge over God’s people in Israel. Unfortunately, Sampson chose to gratify his fleshly desires and did not place a focus on being God's messenger. He judged Israel for 20 years but, he made a lot of decisions because of his passions and his lust and did not seek to follow God wholeheartedly. Eventually, his desires led him to fall in love with a woman who betrayed him. After this, the Spirit of God left him, along with his great strength for a period of time. Eventually, he came to his senses, and he asked God to give him strength one last time. He did this in order to set an example against the people who caused so much harm and destruction to God’s people. In the end, he was triumphant however, the totality of his story is there to show the choices a person should never make.
Moving forward hundreds of years to the New Testament, there was a son born to another barren couple who was named John. In later years, he would be referred to as John the Baptist. He too was to be set apart and raised to be a messenger of the soon coming Savior. John more than likely had choices, as humans do: to follow God wholeheartedly or, to follow the world and our lust-filled desires. Unlike Samson, John chose to follow God wholeheartedly. And in so doing, John became the messenger preparing the way for Christ, the Savior of the world.
We may think that our lives are not as spectacular as Sampson or John the Baptist. But we are wrong. Whether we are well known to the world or only known by a few, if we seek to use the gifts and talents God has given to uplift His kingdom, we are then living to please our Father in Heaven. Does that mean every second of the day we’re doing ministry? No. But if we are focused to walk with God daily, and to be His witnesses to the world in what we say and do, we will be living the life He ordained for us.
Two messengers. Which one are you?
Blessings,
Angélique 💐
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