Luke 3
The story told of a pastor who was officiating at a funeral. When the service was completed, he was asked to lead the funeral procession as it made its way to the cemetery. So he got into his car and he started driving at the head of the long column. This is where the trouble began. Sometime during the journey he turned on his radio and started listening to the news. He soon became lost in his thoughts and forgot where he was going. About that time, he passed a Kmart and thought about something he needed to pick up. So he turned into the parking lot. As he was looking for a parking space, he just happened to glance into the rear-view mirror and saw a string of cars following, all with their lights on.
It is easy to lose our way on the road of life. This is what happened to the nation of Israel. God picked them to lead the world on "the way" to the Lord. They were supposed to be out front but they became preoccupied and lost their way.
In Luke 3 we see John the Baptist calling the nation back to the original mission.
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
"A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
The role of John is our role today. We are to lead our generation in preparing their hearts to follow Jesus.
This preparation only occurs in the hearts of repentant people. We must recognize our crookedness and Jesus' straightness. We must realize that the greatest opportunity given to us each day is to spend time with Jesus. And to keep us from getting lost we pray and take our directions from the Holy Spirit.
It is not easy to lead people to the Lord these days. But we have not been called to live comfortable, easy lives. We have been called to live faithful, obedient lives. Like John the Baptist, our voices are also calling out in the wilderness, "prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."
No comments:
Post a Comment