We were hard on substitute teachers, in my day. We’d vacate the classroom and file nonchalantly to some undisclosed location, answer to the wrong names, etc. Usually, no matter how awesome a substitute is, he or she is a poor replacement for the real teacher. They don’t know us as well or have as good a grasp on the material, but they’re doing their best to fill the shoes of the real-deal until the teacher shows up.

John the Baptist tells the Pharisees that he is just a substitute for the Messiah, doing his best with Jesus’ work until Jesus shows up. That is the task of every Christ follower – to do our best with Christ’s living, loving, and teaching, all the while trusting that Jesus has come and will come again. We serve and mimic one whose sandals we are not fit to tie, but who trusts us with the joys and responsibilities of service anyway. With hope in this promised coming, may we embrace our calling to share in Christ’s work.

By Shelli Latham from D365