Sunday we met a man whose whole job was pointing. When the most important religious leaders in Israel asked John the Baptist who he was, he told them who he wasn't.

But before John ever spoke, there was silence. Four hundred years of it. No prophet, no new word from God.

Then a voice showed up in the wilderness, right on schedule.

God always keeps His word.

Seven hundred years before John was born, Isaiah heard God promise a voice.

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. After it, God's people waited four hundred years without a new prophet. No fresh word. Just the promise, and a lot of time for religion to settle into routine.

Then a man in the wilderness started preaching, and the silence was over. John the Baptist was proof God had not forgotten. Isaiah's promise was seven hundred years old when the voice finally showed up. God is never late, even when He is quiet.

Whatever silence you are sitting in this week, the God who kept that promise has not forgotten you.

Don't rush these. Give yourself a few minutes with each one before moving on.

Write your answers down. Thursday you will write one more thing: a name.

Come back tomorrow - Tuesday you'll find out why "I am not" might be the most freeing words you say this week.

• John 1:19-21 - who are you?

Read John 1:19-21. The most respected religious leaders in Israel sent a delegation twenty miles into the wilderness to ask one question: "Who are you?" John's answer is strange. He tells them who he is not. "I am not the Christ." "I am not." "No."

He had the crowds. He had the attention. He could have taken any title they offered. Instead, he handed every one of them back.

There is freedom in that. Some of us live like we are the savior of our family, our friends, our workplace. If they are going to be okay, it is up to us. John shows a better way. You are not the Christ. You never had to be. That job is already taken.

• John 1:22-23 - the voice
• John 3:30 - he must increase

Read John 1:22-23. Frustrated, the leaders pushed: "What do you say about yourself?" John answered with Scripture: "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness."

Think about what a voice is. Nobody walks away from a phone call talking about the sound waves. A voice is not the point. The message is. John was content to be heard and forgotten, as long as people saw Jesus.

Later he said it even more plainly: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). That is not low self-esteem. It is the right size. When you know how big Jesus is, you don't need to be the main character.

• John 1:24-27 - one you do not know

Read John 1:24-27. The leaders asked John by what right he was baptizing. His answer turned the attention off himself again: "Among you stands one you do not know."

Jesus was right there. In the crowd. And the experts who had studied the Scriptures their whole lives missed Him. You don't recognize a person you're not expecting.

John said he wasn't worthy to untie that man's sandal strap, a job for the lowest servant. The people around you are standing in the same crowd. Jesus is near them, and they don't know Him. Someone has to point.

• John 1:28 - Bethany across the Jordan
• Romans 10:14 - how are they to hear?

Read John 1:28. These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan. A real place, a real river, a real man telling real people what he knew about Jesus.

Now read Romans 10:14. How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? God has always sent someone first. He sent Noah, Moses, the prophets, and John. Now He sends you.

You don't need a title. John didn't have one. You don't need every answer. You just need to tell what Jesus has done in your life. It's not your job to save anyone. We just point people to the One who saves.