Preparing the way for Christ

Christmas break was over, or so we thought. Now a week into what was supposed to be the first week of school in 2025, I can say I have spent a lot of time with Elizabeth and Kelsey. In some ways, it’s amazing; in others, they are starting to get bored of it. I have worked from home most days because I live next door to the church and can make the trek easily if anyone else was brave enough to come to church while most things were closed. And each day entertaining Kelsey has become a bit more important. We even created our own games to help entertain her along the way. If only I had prepared these ideas ahead of time. How much more fun could we have had? We are lucky to live in a time that we knew the storm was coming. We knew there would be a few days at home, but we didn’t know quite the length of this time at home. 

This week, we look at Luke’s account of John preaching repentance and baptizing those in the Jewish faith (Luke 3:1-22). He is warning the people of just how important their repentance is. He is calling out their sin and how they have turned from God. Yet John isn’t the final message on this. Jesus is baptized, and if we keep reading, we will see that all John is saying is true, and repentance is only part of the equation. John’s sermon and baptism are calling forth to something bigger; it’s laying the groundwork to remind the people of who they are in God’s world and the importance of seeing their proper place in it and the life God has called them to. As they hear these words, they should be reminded of their past failures and how they were punished when they sinned, but they should also remember how God saved them when they were close to Him. 

I may not have made all the preparations I needed to entertain my four-year-old daughter. But Elizabeth made the shopping list, and we got out before the storm and bought what we needed to stay in and stay warm in the weather that was predicted and coming. Today I pray and hope that I have heard John’s message about repentance— yes, but I also wish to respond to Jesus’ message of faith in Him. That I would put into action the life of faith John describes and Jesus exemplifies. The prayer is that it would be more than actions taken but a way of handing my being, my heart, my existence over to the one who created me. I don’t want to live this life out of fear for the things that could happen to me if I don’t. I want to live the way John and Christ call me to because of the fact I will then know I’m who God made me to be. 

Lord, lead us to turn from the world’s understanding and to your design for us, our neighbors, and our world. Show us what fulfillment in you is all about. Amen

What do you need to turn away from to see Christ more clearly?