7/24/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 2. 5-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

There was one whose voice echoed in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord and make the path straight. Repent and be baptized.” Jesus asked the people, “When you went to listen to my cousin John the Baptizer what did you expect to hear and see: a reed blowing with the wind? A man dressed as a priest or a king? No, I believe you went to experience a prophet. More than that I believe you went to experience more than a prophet!” And who would doubt the very word and intuitive thought of Jesus but those dressed as a priest or king or who were the “magic flutes” of leadership played by those who ruled over them? When any of them, from the rich and powerful to the poor and cast off, went out to experience John the Baptizer there was little doubt as to what they would find. Was he a mad man? Had religion overtaken him and drove him beyond reason? He was clothed in a shaggy robe made of camel’s hair with a leather belt wrapped around his waist. His beard dripped with the leftovers of locusts and wild honey. His hair was in disarray being dried in the blowing wind and bleached in the summer’s sun. Yet, they went anyway. They went east out of Jerusalem as far as the Jordan River and perhaps beyond into the wilderness. In today’s terms one might say “You had to go there to get there” meaning some effort had to be expended to do so. With John the Baptizer “nothing was going to be easy.”

Well, he did believe there was one easy thing to do but living with the consequences of doing so might prove more challenging. I don’t know but maybe that is one reason why John preached from among the scorpions and jackals. He stood among the hills where the scape goats had been lead and left as the bearers of Israel’s sins. “Out of sight and out of mind,” one might say. Out away from it all, it was easier to confess one’s sins among strangers and people you probably would never see again. By the time you got home, your clothes would be dried leaving no evidence of the outward demonstration of the inward transformation…if there had been a transformation. You see, not everyone went out to experience John for the sake of transformation. Instead, they were preparing themselves for depostion in case there was a need to bring charges against John for sedition and insurrection. There had to be evidence that John had “lost his head” for the sake of the word he preached in the wilderness. There would need to be an accounting of his message and ministry. Were they the ravings of a lunatic, then they would bear witness. Were they the utterances of truth espoused by one of God, then they knew what was to come. They maintained the middle ground waiting for whichever shoe, or sandal, would fall. Yes, their action to attend was simple enough. But, the consequences of their presence would prove a different matter.

You see, one day, a man came down the Jordan River from the north lands. Journeying from Capernaum which was like a second home to Him, He found his way among the still waters, resting in green pastures and finding refreshment for His soul. The Lord was His shepherd. He was not in lack for anything. But, He was prepared for everything. And in the midst of all that normally happened around John the Baptizer, this man’s cousin, this man stepped right into the middle of it. Literally, He stepped through the crowd and walked into the waters where John stood saying again, “Prepare the way of the Lord and make your path straight. Repent and be baptized.” Yes, indeed, the meeting of these minds stirred others to remember the words of King Solomon, David’s second son with Bathsheba. Those words now pulsed with anticipation in the hearts and minds of all who remembered them. They said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” Yes, I know there are other interpretations of verse 6 such as “guide your steps or guard your journey or inspire your search.” But, in the context it was written and then reproduced the compelling understanding would be “make your paths straight.”

Perhaps, “straight as the crow flies” but nonetheless straight. For “straight paths” does not necessarily mean a literal straight line. It does mean that by whatever path you travel, the intent remains fixed. And this man from Capernum had one destination in mind. Without God’s assistance and blessing, that destination would elude Him. He might see it in the distance but it would not look the same if He averted His gaze from the appointed and soon anointed path. And we should not be confused about this path. It was not leading to Jerusalem as if it were the ultimate destination. That seemed to be the way of thinking for most Jews in the days of John the Baptizer as it had been for generations previous. At the end of the Passover Seder Feast there would be a toast, “next year in Jerusalem!” You see, many who celebrated Passover desired to do so in Jerusalem. For many it was a pilgrimmage for a future day. For others it was a yearly ritual. For still others, it was an every day occurrence. It resembled in their life the physical manifestation of their spiritual reality. But, this man was not aiming for Jerusalem as the pentultimate experience. It would be the launching point of a greater journey that would lead Him and others “straight to God.” This is why He dared not lean on His human heart with all its considerations and concerns. He put His trust in the Lord and allowed it to guide His every step. With each step, He would acknowledge His trust in God and know that “all things were working together for good for those who put their trust in Him.” Not only putting their trust in the Lord but calling upon His name and being called by His name to live out His purpose for their lives. Yes, it was a simple thing to say “I believe.” But, what was more challenging was walking out what “I believe” would actually come to mean in this world. This man who now stood face to face with His cousin John the Baptizer knew that truth better than anyone else ever could.

Why? Because His name was Jesus. He was the son of Mary, the wife of Joseph who accepted Jesus as his own son knowing He was God’s only begotten son. It might have been easy to say in his heart but he never confessed it beyond the four walls of his house. It would be a truth that changed and challenged his life to his dying day. It is a same truth which challenges us, confronts us and changes us to our dying day. And it is a truth which we must become comfortable with until it is easy to say and easier to live it day after day.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, Your love is almost beyond our imagination as to its full meaning and implementation. Yet, in Jesus you have made it abundantly clear. We desire more than simply to be saved. We want to be harvest gatherers and change lives even if the world refuses to change and accepts the dead end as its only end. Pour out Your Spirit on us and clear our minds, hearts, souls and bodies so that You can use all of us to bring about Your good. We want Your will to be ours. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.