Opening Prayer
Gracious God, I put myself before you in this moment with waiting heart, expectant desire. Open my eyes that I may see your promise fulfilled; open my ears that I may hear your word whispered to my deepest being.
Amen.
Passage
Isaiah 40:1-5
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:“In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord;make straight in the desert a highway for our God.Every valley shall be raised up,every mountain and hill made low;the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Reflection - Bill Tetting
As an 8th grader, attending a Catholic grade school, I was chosen to play the role of John the Baptist for our K-8th grade school. Every day during Advent and during the morning announcements I would dress like John the Baptist and walk the halls of our school shouting, “prepare the way for the Lord!”. I was intrigued by John as he wore camel skins, ate locusts, and lived in the wilderness. Even though John was an eccentric person, the message he brought during his time is the same one we can live out today.
How do we “prepare the way for the Lord” in our daily life? We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those around us! What does that look like? It is being “Christ-like” in all situations we encounter. The word that comes to mind is action. Action is the first step to being the hands and feet of Jesus. We cannot affect those around us by sitting on the sidelines. John the Baptist gives us an action word: “prepare." We cannot become the hands and feet of Jesus without doing something. If we are truly working for the Kingdom, then we are preparing the way for the Lord. It is time to get off the sidelines and take action to “prepare the way of the Lord”.
Take some time to reflect on if you are truly preparing the way for the Lord by your actions. Are you being the hands and feet of Jesus to those around you? If not, what does God want you to change?
Closing Prayer
My Lord, may all that I have seen of you and all that I have heard from your word now enflesh itself in me. Send me from this place as the incarnate promise of life to all whose life I will touch this day.
Amen.