Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius Caesar, a message came from God to John (the son of Zacharias), as he was living out in the deserts. (Pilate was governor over Judea at that time; Herod, over Galilee; his brother Philip, over Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias, over Abilene; and Annas and Caiaphas were high priests.) Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned to God and away from their sins, in order to be forgiven.
In the words of Isaiah the prophet, John was “a voice shouting from the barren wilderness, ‘Prepare a road for the Lord to travel on! Widen the pathway before him! Level the mountains! Fill up the valleys! Straighten the curves! Smooth out the ruts! And then all mankind shall see the Savior sent from God.’”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
A few days ago, I was invited to Timothy’s kindergarten class to sing Christmas carols with the children. Before I went, my mother reminded me to enjoy this activity, because these moments pass all too quickly. And she is right…we will blink, and the children will be grown! Too often, we wish away our lives in anticipation of “big events” and fail to recognize the joy and blessings of each and every day.
Most of us are incredibly busy right now as we prepare for Christmas Day. And in doing so, I am afraid that many of us are missing “Christmas”! We’re so busy “preparing the road”, “filling up the valleys” and “straightening out the curves” that the true joy of the Christmas season will pass right by us…and we won’t even notice! We’ll look up and find that it is December 26th…Christmas Day has come and gone…and we pretty much missed it!
It is one thing to miss the real celebration of the entire Christmas season…but it’s quite another to miss Jesus altogether. And I’m afraid we do this, too. We are often so focused on the “doing” that we totally miss the real intention of John’s message…and Jesus’ teachings. We are looking ahead…to the next miracle…to where God is leading us…to what God has planned for us in the future…or even to the joys of heaven and eternity in His presence - and we miss Jesus here…now…today…in this moment.
Prepare the road for Jesus…but don’t miss Him when He walks right up to you! Don’t look up to realize that Christmas came and went – and you didn’t fully enjoy the season. More importantly, don’t miss the presence of Jesus in the everyday moments of your life. Widen the pathway and level the mountains if you must…but stop to look into Christ’s face and acknowledge His love…this Christmas season, and all year long.
©2014 Debbie Robus
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