Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  There's something remarkable about John's humility.  He knows that his life has one task, one purpose, and that is to help prepare the world for the public ministry of Jesus Christ.  He joins a long and faithful line of prophets who pointed beyond themselves and beyond their present time to a future where the promises of God would become real, no by their doing, but by the work of God.
  Our job is not so different.  Sure, we don't wear camel's hair (at least I don't) and locusts are not my meal of choice (although the nutritional value of a locust can be found here), but we are called to point beyond ourselves.  Our actions and our words, the way we treat one another, should announce that the Lord reigns in our lives, and that we believe that he is coming again.  The Lord is mightier than we are, and our lives should serve as an invitation to others to participate in the joy of Christmas, when Christ enters into our world, into our lives, and transforms us by God's grace.