To Be Used By God

(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
John 1:24-27 (ESV)
 
John had a chance to elevate himself in the eyes of the religious community, yet he maintained an honest perspective of one who is a servant of God.  Canon Westcott once wrote: "This may be regarded as a temptation of John corresponding to the simultaneous temptation of Christ. John refused the titles in which the hierarchical party expressed their false views, even as Christ refused to satisfy their expectations by the assumption of external power."
 
To be used by God for any task is a privilege, and we are all unworthy of such an honor. Serving God is not about us; it is about Him and others. If we ever make it about us, we will destroy the very lives we were sent to help build.

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