32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

John 1:32-34

There’s a lot of speculation as to why John didn’t know Jesus when he saw Him. Even though they were cousins, John didn’t recognize Jesus. They obviously were not close when they were growing up.

John listened to the Holy Spirit who told him who Jesus was.

Say what you want about the man who ate locusts and honey and lived in the wild, but he was in sync with the Holy Spirit.

Of course, we don’t all have to do those things to listen to the Holy Spirit in our lives. The fact is, we have it much simpler than John but we hear many other voices that vie for our attention. We can learn from John’s odd but single-minded focus.

Sometimes you just have to tune out the world to listen to the One voice that matters.