Marked By God: Part 3 || Day 2

Mark 1:1-8 NKJV

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ” John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In our text today, we read about a man who had been marked by God. Before he was born into this world God had a plan and a purpose for his life. He was sent into the earth with one the most significant calls from God known to man up until that time. His call was to announce the Messiah stepping into His earthly ministry. His purpose was to get people ready to meet Him.

Church, Jesus said that among those born of women John was the greatest, but he who is least in the Kingdom is greater than John. One of the reasons He said this was because all in the Kingdom of God have the same purpose and call that John had; that is to announce Jesus and get people to a place to meet Him.

Church, I’m telling you this because if we are not careful, we will think that John was someone that had no choice in walking in the call of God or not. We can think that he just lived for God and didn’t have to do anything intentional to make sure he completed his task. We can think that he was marked by God without passionately pursuing God. This week, I’m going to point out a few things that John did to cause his life to be marked by God.

First, people who are marked by God don’t mind having a different appetite.

Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

Matthew 4:4 says, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Ezekiel 3:1-3 says, “The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” So, I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”

The Bible says that John ate locusts and wild honey. Why does the Bible specify his diet? Because what goes in you is what comes out of you. Even in the natural, what a person consumes tells the story of their health. As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.

John eating locusts and wild honey is a revelation of the two-fold message of a preacher. It’s what Jesus had; He was full of grace and truth. Anytime you see locusts in the Bible it refers to judgement coming upon a certain people or land. Anytime you see honey in the Bible it refers to the goodness or kindness of God.

John’s appetite in the spirit had to reflect what had to come out of him. This is why when the crowds came to be baptized at the Jordan River, he could tell the humble to repent and be baptized. But then he could look at the prideful Pharisees and say, “You brood of vipers who warned you of the wrath to come?”