Tuesday March 5, 2024

Today is Tuesday, March 5 and we are reading through the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

Holy and loving God, I long to experience your abiding presence. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, enable me to hear the message you have for me today. As I read from the Gospel of John, speak to my heart and mind in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, Make straight the way for the Lord.” Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” John 1:19-27

Thousands of years before Jesus came, the prophet Isaiah predicted that a messenger would prepare the way for the Messiah. A voice would call out in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3). An emissary would make a way. When John the Baptist appeared going around the Judean countryside west of the Jordan River, many people quickly identified him as the messenger promised by God to point the way to the long-awaited Messiah. John pointed the way to the One more powerful than himself. The worthy One who was to come after him. John made a way through the confusing, troubling wilderness of life so that people could find Jesus for themselves.

In the same manner, God makes a way through the wilderness places of our lives. God makes a way where there is no way. What is your current wilderness? Where are you at a loss? You may feel overwhelmed with a world fraught with division, problems and challenges. You may feel immobilized by the troubles in your life – weighty decisions, health challenges, financial limitations, strained relationships, increasing workloads. Perhaps there is the struggle of chronic pain, anxiety, depression, addiction, or grief. Maybe you have tried before, sometimes tried and tried, and you find yourself back in the same place. In the wilderness.

John chapter one is an announcement of who Jesus is and an invitation to know him intimately. John introduces us to Jesus the Waymaker. God made a way for us. Seemingly when there is no way, God finds a way. A way out. A way over. A way under. A way through. A way home. A way out of sin and death and a way forward to life and freedom. God loved us so much he devised a great rescue plan, a way to restore us to right relationship. A way to salvation. That way is Jesus. There is a way through the wilderness of sin. There is a way through the wilderness of our lives too. No matter what, we have a Waymaker who is powerful and loving and always at work – working every detail of our lives together for good. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)!

Ask: What is a current “wilderness” place in my life? How can I invite Jesus the Waymaker to come and be my helper, companion and guide?

Pause and Pray

Come, Lord Jesus, show me the way to the Father. Guide me through the wilderness, bind up my brokenness, heal my loneliness, and bring me peace. I place my complete faith and utter trust in you. I lay everything on the altar of your grace and invite you to show me the way to your unending love. Amen.