Preparing the Way Luke 1:15-17

“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the power and spirit of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. "  (Luke 1:15-17) NIV

Random Thoughts:

John was one in a long line of biblical, larger-than-life personalities who were chosen by God for the special task of preparing the people for rescue. And the Jewish nation had much to be rescued from:  Babylonians, Philistines, the Assyrian Empire and, most often, themselves. He was a Nazarite, set aside for a special purpose, to begin the process of God’s ultimate rescue of all people for all time. 

John’s job description, however, was not to be the rescuer. That’s was God’s job in the form of Christ. But John’s work was still essential: to call God’s people back to himself, to remind them of truth and how to live it so they would recognize the ultimate Truth when He came in the form of Jesus.

Question:  What is my job as a follower of Christ and how do I sometimes confuse my job with God’s?

Journal Response:

“Love God, love others.” That’s certainly one purpose. “Making disciples”--trying to turn hearts and minds toward loving God and others more--is another. Where I most often get it wrong, of course, is fleshing that out into day to day living. It’s hard to love God or others when I’m dubbing the driver in front of me an “idiot” for his ridiculous bumper sticker. Or when I’m losing my cool after the fourth call to “come to supper!” It doesn’t take much to knock me off my game.

But I really do try. And I really do pray and God really has brought me a long, long way. Where I forget my job, however, is when I confuse faithfulness with outcome.  I can be faithful but still get angry; I can be faithful but still forget it was my turn to put on a new toilet roll; I can be faithful and still make a wrong decision in the discipline of my children; I can be faithful and still be scared to death while I open my mouth in a public forum.

On a more serious note, we can be faithful and still not see those we love come to Christ. Sometimes being faithful to love God and love others won’t result in our ability to rescue them to eternity. That is still God’s job. That is why some missionary servants may never see a single soul give their hearts to God but those coming after them see an entire revival. We are all just preparing the way for God to take the lead in his way and in his time.

Like John, our job is to be faithful to tell the truth and live the truth as authentically as we can. It also helps to  remember that we do not have the ultimate power in the universe. (As much as I would like to believe I do).

John never saw the ultimate outcome of his faithfulness, his Lord’s resurrection. He died in a prison only knowing that God would take it from there. I am not responsible to be perfect or to create others who are. But I am asked to faithfully prepare the way so God can complete his work of grace through me.