Read: John 1:19-34

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. -John 1:23

Missionary Keith Gustafson was forced to leave the Congo because of the civil war that
erupted in 1997. He reported that as the fighting spread, people in the remote area where
he lived knew that soldiers were approaching because of the message of the drums. Down the
trails and along the riverbanks came the chilling drumbeat that warned of danger.

The drums of the Congo are also used to alert the tribes when there’s been a death, to
announce a birth, or to call a meeting. They serve as a general news alert; a messenger
follows up with additional information.

John the Baptist served a similar role. His calls to repentance, his baptisms in the
Jordan River, and his scathing condemnations of the hypocritical religious  leaders
of Israel were early warning signals of important events to follow (Mt. 3). The bigger
news of the ministry of Jesus the Messiah, concluding with His crucifixion, burial, and
resurrection, was about to burst forth onto the Jewish scene.

We have the opportunity to deliver a news alert to the people with whom we come in
contact every day. Our manner of speech and our moral standards can help prepare the way
to share the gospel. We can follow up our general testimony with the specific message of
the gospel.

-David C. Egner

 Lord, help us to tell of Your love for mankind –

A love for the sin-sick, the broken, the blind;

And help them to see by the way that we live

The wholeness of being that You long to give. -DJD

THEY WITNESS BEST WHO WITNESS WITH THEIR LIVES AND THEIR LIPS.

OUR DAILY BREAD, Copyright 1999 by Radio Bible Class,

Grand Rapids,Michigan. Used by permission.

– Geo –

Edwardsburg, MI