WHAT REALLY IS GREATNESS? Here is the prophecy concerning the birth and life of John the Baptist as given to Zechariah his father: “...Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 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 mothers womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” (Luke 1:13-16). My deepest point of interest is the statement that John will be “GREAT in the sight of the Lord.” I began to ask myself, how great was John and if John was great then what is greatness? Here is John whose house would be the wilderness, whose cloth would be Carmel’s hair and whose food would be locust and honey. Here was John whose ministry lasted only few years (less than the three and half years of our Lord) and died such a cheap and humiliating death by being beheaded while his head was placed on a tray for one silly Salome whose callous mother does not like to see the face of John for telling her the truth. So what is great in this? Many things and EVERYTHING. Jesus said concerning John in Mathew 11:11, Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist...” In his humble and brief ministry, he touched the lives of many. People – Pharisees, Sadducees, military men and ordinary men were flocking to the wilderness to listen to John preach and to be baptised by him. He never welcome them with prosperity message or assuage their ego. He rebuked them and even asked, “who told you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:1-11). More gloriously, John had the privilege of being the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ and baptising him. What could be greater? So here are the questions again? What is greatness? Is it in how much money you have, how much houses you build or cars you ride? It is not how long you lived and how much crowd you gather or where you were located – whether Lagos, Abuja, London or Paris. Greatness is simply FULFILLING THE PURPOSE OF GOD FOR YOUR LIFE. Who determines or defines greatness? God does! Some in the days of John the Baptist might think this man’s life is simply a failure. Imagine a man who was born of very AGED and BARREN parents. Imagine the only child of such parents living in the wilderness for few years and dying a violent death by being beheaded simply in the name of one ministry or the other. Some will call that failure. But the heavens, JOHN IS THE GREATEST (apart from Jesus Christ). And lastly, what qualifies a man for greatness? It is SERVICE. It is emptying yourself to bless humanity and expanding the cause of the gospel. Jesus said And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” What a LEGACY, to be an instrument of opening the door for men to rush into the kingdom. I invite you friend to the CAUSE and PATHWAY of REAL GREATNESS as we learn from John.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 11:39:15 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015