Pondering John the Baptist

I was reading in John 1 this morning. John the Baptist gives testimony about 'a man' who was before him and is coming after him who will baptize with the Holy Spirit, one who is far greater than he. He also says that he did not know who it was until the Spirit like a dove descended on him.

But he would have recognized his cousin. He would have spent time with Jesus growing up, talking, playing. I wonder what kind of discussions they had. Did John ever suspect that Jesus was the One that he had been told about during his sojourn in the desert? As a babe in his mother's womb he had some inkling of what was coming, did that inkling grow? And yet when he was in prison he had to ask Jesus if he really was the Messiah, just to be sure, to allay his doubts. After all this was his cousin, could so great a one have sat at his table, sharing secret messages when no one was looking? Could his cousin, the one he went fishing with and climbed trees with be the long awaited one. Must have been mind-boggling.

Makes me wonder, who are these ones who live under my roof........really? Who are these ones that I rub shoulders with and worship with and call my friends and family. Gives one pause. God's admonition to love one another takes on a new light. You may be loving someone that has a destiny far beyond what we can imagine. Treat them well.