This is a devotional that my parents received the other day from Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah. They thought it was interesting at how closely it applied to what is going on in their lives right now. I can think of several other families it would also apply to right now. So far I’ve not gone with the camel hair clothes or the locusts and honey thing but knowing me I would at least try it. I know it is a lot easier to read than live out, but that does not change the application.
John [the Baptist's] clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. Matthew 3:4
Many a parent has been delighted to see his child make progress in spiritual matters, showing unusual sensitivity to discerning God's will. Until, that is, the young adult child decides to go to a Bible college instead of a prestigious university. Until, that is, the child announces her plans to go to a dangerous mission field to work among an unreached people who suffer from disease, strife, and poverty.
Zecharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, might have felt that way. The angel Gabriel seemed to indicate a respectable career path for their son, John: "To make ready a people prepared for the Lord." They never imagined that John would leave them as a young man and live in the desert, dressing oddly, eating locusts and wild honey, and preaching radically. He was likely a source of embarrassment for his parents. If you have a child, a parent, or a friend who is obeying God and pursuing a path you don't understand, pray Acts 21:14: "The will of the Lord be done."
God is not obligated to receive the approval of the family and friends of those He calls into His service.
Freedom is not the right to do as you please; it is the liberty to do as you ought. Unknown
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