25 Days of Christmas
Today's Reading: Luke 3:1-22
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased
Through the Bible Readings: Micah 3-4, Revelation 2:12–29, Psalm 142, Proverbs 30:21-23
If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings.
Devotional: Prepare the Way of the Lord
"Prepare the way for the Lord."
John the Baptist had a unique ministry, literally preparing the nation of Israel for the Lord. He was remarkable in his courage, his humility, his boldness, and his passion for the things of God. He would have been considered a complete failure by the standards of modern leadership today, of course. When powerful and influential men came to him he did not curry favor or shape his message to gain favor. He loaded for bear and gave them both barrels.
"You brood of vipers."Someone should have told him you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, I guess.
But he was not there to make people like him or to gather a crowd around him. He was there to prepare the way for the Lord and when Jesus rose up to prominence he willingly faded into the background, letting his popularity decrease so that Jesus could increase. He sent his disciples to follow Jesus.
John preached a hard message. Confrontational. Unpopular. Eventually, it ended up getting him killed because he wouldn't play politics, he wouldn't curry favor or seek to make people like him. He was there to proclaim Christ and to call people to repentance. Whether people liked him or treated him well or whether he was popular - these things meant nothing to him. The only thing that mattered to him was that people would come to God and that he would fulfill his role to "prepare the way of the Lord."
That is also our duty, to prepare the way of the Lord. I am not here on earth to raise the level of my own popularity or to make the world love me. My job is not even to make my church trendy, popular, bigger, or well-respected in the world. My duty, our duty, is to "prepare the way of the Lord." Jesus is alive and well, seated at God's right hand and calling sinners to salvation. As we go through this world our only duty to raise him up and call sinners to repentance. Like John, we may find ourselves unpopular at times, but our duty is to please the Savior, not the world.
Father, may I do a good job this week preparing the way of Christ in this sinful world.
Think and Pray :
Examine your life and heart about this matter - are you devoted to Christ's fame and glory, or your own?
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