January 16, 2024 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John (2SoJ)
Who Do You Want To Be?
Every person wants to and often does model their life after someone else. There are lots of role models in the Bible, and Hebrew’s chapter eleven has a favorite set of individuals to choose from. Nevertheless, there are a few ‘giants of the Bible’ that seem to stand out, but few people will ever measure up to the character and choices these giants made to follow Christ.
King David found ‘great mercies’ and delivered Israel from their enemies, but God said that David was a ‘bloody man’ because he solved all problems with a sword so God would not allow him to build God’s temple.
King Solomon was a man who found great wisdom and riches, but he could not control his love for women and his desire for possessions. Both these men wrote a book in the Bible (Psalms & Proverbs) which are widely popular and quoted often.
The prophet Elisha was given a ‘double portion of anointing’ and did twice the miracles of any other prophet in Israel, but he did not get a free ride to heaven (not raptured with the help of a chariot and whirlwind) like his predecessor, Elijah.
I can go on listing Bible greats, but they do not measure up to the following three individuals that God chose over everyone else.
First, there is John the Baptist who Jesus said, ‘There would be no one greater than John that is born on this earth’. Why John? He did not prophecy, nor did miracles, he did not write any books of the Bible, and His ministry was short-lived. So how did he get the #1 status? John forsakes his future offered to him by man and rather chooses a future God chose for him. He was in line to be the next high priest in Israel (lineage from his father and mother) which he rejected; he lived in the desert and wore only camel hair/skin; and he ate only wild things, not man-made food but a simple diet of locust and honey. Wow, who does this? John rejects religious status, money, food, and clothing, and lives where no one else likes to live. He died a martyr.
Moses was much like John. Rejects worldly wealth, societal status, and a privileged lifestyle, and instead chooses to be an outcast, a man with a price of his head (criminal), and a simple poor sheepherder. (God did not allow his body to stay on the earth but was taken to heaven by an angel immediately after his death.) He dies before he enters the promised land.
How about the prophet Elijah who has a few chapters in the Bible written about him and did a few miracles but nothing as dramatic as so many other prophets or kings of Israel? Yet, he got a free ride to heaven, he did not die, and later it was him and Moses that God chose to meet miraculously with Christ before His death. These two men and Christ spent an afternoon talking with each other about Christ fulfilling His calling, death, and resurrection. God did not choose any others—they were not worthy enough. What made these two men and John the Baptist so important?
What they all had in common was their rejection of this world. They did not love this world or anything in the world. These three men loved God alone. They did not choose anything in the world to be important or needed for living but wanted to serve God before anything else. God was first to them and nothing in this world was in second place. Not fame, not riches/money, not status, not easy living, absolutely nothing!
John, the disciple of Christ, warned today’s church, “Do not love this world or anything in this world, or the love of the Father is not in you” (I John 2:15 NIV). John was also translated, the Bible suggests, that he did not die on this earth. What do these people have in common? The answer is found in 1 John 2:15!
In these last days, who will be raptured, not experiencing death? Will it be for only those (even if you are a Christian) who do not love this world, but love the Father only? Could the requirement be that you only love God, giving all your love to God and not trying to love both God and this world?
As Jesus commanded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” (Mark 12:30). Could this be the last day’s requirement for God to rapture His people—loving God with all you have leaving nothing for this world? Could believing in Christ be ‘not good enough’? Either way, it is time to be more like John, Moses, and Elijah—it’s time to follow the command of Jesus Christ.
Let’s love God alone with all that is within us, leaving the world behind.
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What would Jesus want me to do?
Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com
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