Have you ever sought to be a messenger for someone? Have you thought about the importance of the messenger? Would it depend on who the message was sent from and to? Do you think that would elevate the status of the messenger?
I’m sure many of us have no inclination to be a messenger. In fact, we have probably, at some or another, been the messenger carrying messages back and forth between two friends who are now former friends of each other. Perhaps we have experienced a worse situation, carrying messages between our parents.
Our experiences with messengers in today’s world prevents us from holding them in high esteem. Of course, at no time has the messenger been held higher than the person sending the message or the person receiving the message.
Throughout history, there has been many messengers. Some of them are more well known than others. I’m reminded of a book I once read titled “A Message to Garcia” by Elbert Hubbard. It was on the Commandant’s Reading List when I was a Marine. It is a very short book, about 65 pages. It makes an inspiring point about the courage and drive of the messenger to deliver a message that could have dire consequences, if not delivered.
Prior to the invention of telephones and radios, the military relied heavily on messengers. They were important during the battles of the Old Testament. They were important during Rome’s conquest of many nations. They were important during our own Civil War.
One particular messenger in the Bible had an amazing task. He was not only to be a messenger, but he was to prepare the way for the Lord. He wasn’t merely proclaiming what God wanted, he was telling people that Jesus was on His way. He was to prepare the hearts and minds of the Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Can you imagine having that kind of responsibility? He was to carry out what the prophets Isaiah and Malachi had foretold hundreds of years earlier. Not only that, he knew the prophecy and knew the Jewish leaders and priests knew the prophecy. How was an ordinary man supposed to carry out such an important prophecy?
As we know, John the Baptist did carry out his assigned task. He certainly garnered the attention of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He also captured the attention of the Jewish people and baptized them for the forgiveness of their sins.
I pray we all become messengers. I pray we take up the task of carrying God’s message. I pray each one of us will carry the message of Jesus in our heart and share it with others. Be a messenger. Carry God’s message. Tell others about Jesus. Fulfill your calling.
Malachi 3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LordAlmighty.
Marty Pressey 