Daily Devotional for Sunday, December 14

John’s Ministry Foretold

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God,” Isaiah 40:3.

I think I speak for all parents when I say that being a parent is not easy. It is certainly rewarding, definitely a blessing and truly an honor; but it is not easy. When my first child was born, he was more work than I expected. He wanted to be fed and changed and rocked to sleep. I was naively not expecting to put in so much effort, but I also assumed it would get easier. I was mistaken. Later came the terrible twos and threes, and I thought then that things would eventually get easier. But then came the pre-teen years, and the most exhausting period of his life for me and his mother—his teenage years.

Eventually, along came his sister, and I knew we were in for more of the same. She also proved that parenting is difficult. As much of a joy as it is to have teenagers in our house, the one thing I can never understand is how you can ask them to do something—even the smallest thing—and they still do not do it correctly.

John the Baptist had one job to do, and he did it well. He was to prepare the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. He preached what God told him to preach. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). Jesus Himself praised John for what he did, saying, “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28).

CHALLENGE

If God has called you to do something, be like John the Baptist and do it.

Chris Floyd