My Stories

 

JOHN IN THE DESERT

 

     This wonderful story is found in the Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 3. 

 

     John was a young man about 18 years old when he went off to be alone with God.  John was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth and he had been selected by God to do a very special work.  But he needed to go and be alone with God to know exactly what he was to do.  So he went out to the desert.  Now, the desert is a very dry land.  There are rocks and sand and it is very, very hot.  And John could listen to God there in the quiet and stillness of the desert.  John lived in a cave because there was not a house to live in.  And whenever he became hungry, he would eat locusts, which are like little grasshoppers.  Sometimes when he was lucky he would find a bee’s nest with honey in it and this was delicious, for honey is nice and sweet.  Locusts and honey and water were all John needed.  He didn’t even need beautiful clothes.  All he wore was a long gray coat made of camel’s hair.  At his waist he wore a leather belt. 

 

     John lived a long time in the desert and God told him all he needed to know about his special work.  He taught John that the Savior of the world would be a king.  Not an ordinary king, but a heavenly king.  And finally the time had come when the Lord God told John what he must do. 

 

    So John went down to the Jordan River, which is a big wide river that people pass on the way to Jerusalem.  And there he stood out and he began to yell and say to people as they passed by, “Repent, repent people for the kingdom of heaven is very near!”  What he was saying was turn away from the wrong things you are doing and get ready for Jesus.  To help the people understand what God wanted them to do to get ready, John would lead them down into the river and baptize them.  Just as water washes the body, so the Lord Jesus would wash away our sins inside our hearts.  This is what John did.  He covered the people with water from the river and he said that God will forgive us when we are truly sorry and then we can live forever in heaven with him.  Anyone who believes in Jesus will live forever.  Well, some of the people came and believed and others did not.  But even so, John had this very special message. 

 

     He was called John the Baptist because he would baptize the people in the River Jordan.  Many people just came out to look at this funny man in camel’s hair and to hear what he had to say.  And some were baptized and some just listened and John told them all about Jesus.  He said, the Lord Jesus is God’s lamb.  He will die for our sins.  God had sent John to tell the people.  “Be ready because the Lord Jesus is coming very soon.”