Sometimes very great movements, discoveries, or social change begin with rather obscure, humble, yet bold actions! Jesus life before His public ministry is largely unknown with just a few facts about His birth, His mother, father, siblings, and one particular instance in the temple when he was twelve years old, Then he emerges at the age of thirty with a rather curious beginning. Jesus’ cousin John (son of Elizabeth and Zechariah) prepares the way by calling people to repentance, forgiveness and devotion. All of this was foreseen by the prince of prophets, Isaiah who wrote four hundred years earlier about John the Baptist. Something big was happening! And that’s how God often works! The Son of the living God was in the world which He had made.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I am sending My messenger [a]before You,
Who will prepare Your way; The voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’” John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1:1-4 NASB
What small beginning in my life has led to much greater significance? Am I fully aware of what God wants to do next and am I prepared or preparing the way for Jesus?
God, as this day begins- I am excited to write again from the gospel account of Mark. I am marveling at how You have given us prophecies about the first coming of Jesus Christ and His soon return. I am pausing to pray for the opening of the eyes of the heart of all in my family. May each reach out to You and find you this Christmas season to be more than a baby in a manger, but the Son of the Living God. Would You, O Lord draw them into a rich and personal prayer experience? Give them dreams. Afford me conversations to answer their deepest questions and doubts about Your reality and love. I pray for each to have a curious beginning with You.
