Do Something to Show It

John bursts onto the scene at a precise moment of history, in an exact locale: during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, along the banks of the Jordan River. Luke does everything short of giving us a fixed date and geographic coordinates.

Much of the Story of Scripture is told in hard, detailed realities. Ironically, it’s this very particularity that is the key to the Bible’s timelessness: John may as well be standing before you or me, sweat beading on his forehead, his camel hair jerkin giving off a pungent musk, his voice pitching up as he calls us down to the waters.

Because he is. His words are not just spoken to first-century tax collectors and soldiers. They are equally spoken to twenty-first century students and computer analysts and baristas and daycare workers.

“What should we do?” is our anxious plea. Whenever we really hear from God, that question confronts us, burns in us.

John’s answer is twofold.

Repent, he says. Change your mind. Think differently. See it God’s way. Quit hiding behind conventions and excuses and blaming. Quit absolving yourself with cheap alibis. Align your way with God’s way. Repent.

And “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (v. 8). The CEV says it this way: “Do something to show that you really have given up your sins.” True repentance shows up. A change of mind always translates into a change of behaviour. No one earns God’s forgiveness—it’s a gift. But when you receive that gift, it alters you in daily, earthy, practical ways: you become generous, honest, fair, thankful. Forgiveness frees you to do something. It shows up.

This is good news. God’s forgiveness is available anytime, anywhere, to anyone. It’s utterly free. But say yes to it, and nothing in you remains untouched.

Respond in Prayer

Dear Father, You have shown me amazing grace. You are the God who forgives me completely and changes me inside out. Help me to do something to show that I really have given up my sins. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen

Mark Buchanan