	Bob Hostetler > Devotions

John's Oratorio

by Bob Hostetler

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29b, NIV).

When my children were very young, it seemed at times that they only knew one song, an aptly titled verse that began, "This is the song that doesn't end." The repetitive words and music of that song did, indeed, seem unending.

To the people of John the Baptist's day, it may have seemed that he knew only one song. Day after day, he preached and baptized along the Jordan, crying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2). But when Jesus, his Nazarene cousin, was revealed to him as the Messiah, John began a new song.

"Behold," he cried, in words that have been further immortalized in Handel's famous oratorio, "the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world" (John 1:29, KJV). He sang an encore performance the next day (John 1:36), and, we may assume, for many days afterward.

Our ministry, much like John's, is to sing a song--with our lives and with our voices--that points men and women to the Lamb of God. The song does not belong to us, nor does the applause, but we must sing. . . just like John.

Prayer: God, let my life be a song that points men and women to the Lamb of God.

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