Greatness From God’s Point Of View
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Luke 1:15
John the Baptist obviously never read Dalius Carnegius’s book, How to Win Jews and Influence Greeks. He didn’t fit in with the crowd. In fact, everything about him seemed to smack of the peculiar.
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His clothes were made of camel skins. His diet was strictly organic. And his behavior was decidedly antisocial. But the impact of John’s ministry is undeniable.
You’ll discover a clue to John’s greatness in the words Matthew Poole wrote over 300 years ago.
WALK WITH MATTHEW POOLE
“We have a natural ambition to be great in the sight of men. But true greatness is to be great in the sight of God.
“In God’s sight, a great man is one of whom God makes great use, especially in turning many souls to himself.
“Consider John. His father was an ordinary priest. He had no palace, no stately habitation. Nature was his cook. Yet Christ said of him, ‘Among those born of women there is no one greater than John’ (Luke 7:28).
“Where was his greatness but in this: He was a great and faithful preacher of God’s message, and God blessed his labors to convert souls.
“They are great who do much of the work for which God has sent them into the world, and do much good in their generation.”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
The world views greatness as rising above the crowd, but God’s perspective is just the opposite. In his eyes greatness is stooping to serve the crowd and daring at all times to obey God. That’s a greatness all can achieve, if they choose to.
Your determination to do God’s will may not be understood by the people around you. The things you do and say, the company you keep, your zeal for the things of God—none of these will fit the status quo.
But take comfort from the fact that you—like John—won’t get lost in the crowd.
