35. The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"  37. When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

 Some come to Christ because they are influenced by others. What type of influence do you have on others for Christ’s sake?

As we have been looking at the first chapter John, we were introduced to an unusual preacher called John the Baptist. He was preparing people to meet God.  The influence of his life was great on some of people who became his disciples. They followed John, but John was committed to pointing people to Jesus and not himself. John was one of the few spiritual leaders who lost his followers because they believed what he said. They left John to follow Jesus.

One mother was teaching her 6 year old the word, “Good”. How important it was to be a good little girl. She taught her how to spell it - G O O D.

A little later the girl came to her mother and said, “See what I made of the letters. She saw - GO DO.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? Back in the early 90’s Billy Graham did a statistical follow-up on mass evangelism. Out of a Crusade in Tacoma 18,000 decisions were made for Christ. Out of 18,000, only 1,285 people were incorporated into a local church. I am not saying that only those who got into a church were truly saved, but there is a connection with the decision and the living out of one’s decision.

Most of Israel in John’s day would say they were followers of God, but not live that way. That is why John confronted them with sin and hypocrisy. Conviction and confession followed. They acted by being baptized.

When asking what they should do, John told them Luke 3:11-14 "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"  "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely-- be content with your pay."

Unfortunately, Gallup polls shows there is very little difference in the behavior of the churched from the unchurched on a wide range of items, including lying, cheating, and pilfering.

When people’s lives started to change, there was an influence on others to listen. John earned the right to be heard. He lived what he believed. By his word and deed he influenced others to look at Jesus.

Application:  Live out your Faith through the power of the Holy Spirit

Prayer:   Lord, we need You.  Your Word tells us that You went out early in the morning to pray.   We, too, need to meet with You as we begin our day.  Help me to make prayer and Your Word a priority in my life that I may point others to You in all I do.