John told them, “I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.” This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing. (John 1:26-28)

Read: Genesis 47:28-50:26

Relate: My alarm clock didn’t go off. Well, actually it was my phone that didn’t go off. My phone is my alarm clock and sometime during the night the battery died. Silly me didn’t think to plug it in before taking my trip to the land of Nod. That’s the thing about smart phones, their battery isn’t so smart. Anyways, the alarm clock didn’t go off and so I was rushed in the morning. Breakfast consisted of a glass of milk with some partially stirred in carnation. The shower lasted almost long enough to get my whole body wet. Shaving didn’t happen. I’m sure you’ve all had one of those days.

I was gathering up all of my stuff to head out the door while still hopping around in one shoe while tying up the other one when I realized something. I don’t have my keys. I’m going nowhere without my keys. They aren’t hanging on the door where they should be. I checked my pockets and my coat pockets. No luck. They’re not on the kitchen table. Neither are they on the shelf where I put my watch and glasses in the bathroom. I check that space between the bed and the wall where everything seems to hide. Nothing. At this point I’m panicking. I start ripping the cushions off my couch. I lift up the entire bed to look under. For what must be fifteen minutes I am ripping my house apart to find the stupid things. That’s when I hear them jingle. The stupid things are on a lanyard bouncing off my chest.

React: By this point in Israel’s history, the people are desperate for a Messiah. Oppression from Rome is growing steadily worse. In a few years the simmering rebellion will break out full scale to devastating effect. False Messiahs are popping up right and left. Those that were able to read the signs of the times knew it had to be soon. And then here comes John preaching in the wilderness and gathering quite a crowd. Is he it? The leaders ask their questions and John responds by saying, “He is already right here. He has already come. And He has more to offer than I ever could.”

Sometimes, when things begin to seem desperate in our lives we tend to do the same things. We are running around desperate to find the keys to our life while they are right there, bouncing off our heart. We are turning everywhere and running around for everything… anything that might save us from our circumstances. We need someone to tell us, “Slow down. Take a breath. He is already right here. He is knocking right at the door of your heart. Just open up and let Him in.”

Respond: 

God, I am sorry for those times I go running around, looking everywhere else for that which You have already provided. In this high speed, fast paced world we live in it is hard sometimes to stop, slow down, and listen. You are here. I know that. You are always here. I’m just not always aware. Help me to see You and hear You and follow You with every step and every heartbeat. Help me to live in the realness of Your presence in my life.