John the Baptist was a voice crying in the desert: Make straight the paths of the Lord, for He comes! That would be a sobering message, if we thought it true in our own lives. Was John seen in his own day as a crazed maniac, or as a herald of the coming Messiah?
What if someone today told us that Jesus is coming back to this earth? I think I know what the reaction might be. None of us wants to be known as the disciple of a nutcase---but John's message is this: One is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
He must increase; I must decrease.
If we listen to the message, we will know for sure who John is; he is not pointing to himself, as a Jim Jones, for example. He is not saying, "Follow me; do what I tell you." He is saying instead, "look for one coming after me. Prepare your heart to receive the Lord."
John defined himself as "a voice crying in the wilderness." He never claimed to have the word of truth, but only asked those who listened to him to cleanse their spirits to receive the Word coming after him. The fullness of truth was about to come, but John himself was not the Word---his role was to herald, or to point to the Word, which every man/woman had to receive in and for themselves.
But how shall we receive the Word of Truth coming from God Himself if we are not looking for, expecting, awaiting it? If we believe the world continues today as it did for thousands of years, and that nothing is different, we care nothing about turning our hearts, listening, waiting for, the Word of God to arrive in our own lives.
I think John's message is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago----prepare ye the way of the Lord, for He comes. If we think of our lives as a time of preparing to receive the Gift of God that He is about to send us---maybe today--it's easier to get rid of the junk.
This Christmas season, I see so much less emphasis on gifts and more on the people in our lives. Maybe the Lord is about to arrive after all!
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