Serving Simply
[By Trent Cross]

 “Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey” (Matt. 3:4, NASB95).

John the Baptist is a prime example of how we should serve in God’s kingdom. John preached in the wilderness of Judea and baptized people in the Jordan River. It was prophesied in Is. 40:3, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight”. That is the same John Isaiah referred to. John was meant to fulfill that purpose and he was very good at it, however, notice how John went about preparing the way. Despite everything he had done, he wore a garment of camel’s hair and had a belt around his waist. He ate what was around him in the wilderness. John was not concerned about the flesh; he was concerned about spiritual matters. He lived simply and there was no nonsense in his approach in doing the Lord’s work. Can we say the same when we are serving in God’s kingdom?

We can serve with what we have around us. We may lack what others have when we are serving one another, but that should be of little concern. We all have the ability to serve in some capacity, whether it be time, money, energy, strength, talents etc. Look at John, having virtually nothing materialistic, and look at what he was able to accomplish with the help of God. We may think we have to wait to serve in some ways or need certain things in order to do so, but that is not the approach we should take as servants. This was not the approach of John. Our focus should be, how can I serve today? We know in Matthew 6:25, Jesus tells us we are not to be worried about what we will eat or drink, so why would we be worried about the ways in which we can serve? If we are seeking “first His kingdom and His righteousness…. all these things will be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). God will take care of you and supply you with what you need in order to serve Him and his people.

People today would call John the Baptist a wildman for how he lived, but I ask you, was he the crazy one? Would you be willing to serve like John the Baptist if that’s what was asked of you? The beauty of today is how simple it is for us. We have countless opportunities to serve one another and the Lord. While John models a life of simplicity we ought to follow when serving, we are not called to live the way he did. God does not require us to live in the wilderness or only eat locusts and honey. Jesus Christ died for all (1 Tim. 2:5-6) and has freely given us the ability to serve Him and his people in the best ways we are able to while grounded in His Word. We do not need to be special or have special things in order to serve our God and His people. The question now is, are you simply serving or are you serving simply to fulfill what we have been called to do by our Savior?