“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’” - John the Baptizer (1.23)
John the Baptizer, messenger of the Messiah, began his ministry in the desert, probably because it was such a vivid picture of the dryness of Israel’s spiritual life. The wilderness represented their faithlessness, their forgetfulness, and their inconsistency. They were, as it were, dying of thirst.
Many of us are right there today. Just kind of wandering around through life. Any desire for God or the things of God is very weak. The Bible just seems boring. Prayer seems boring. Life seems boring. Wandering.
There are two attitudes you can have in the wilderness. You can resign yourself to the wilderness. You can get used to the wilderness and convince yourself that the wilderness is all that there is. “This is all there is. Nothing I can do can change anything. Things will never change, so I better get used to it.” And so you begin to set up a kingdom for yourself in the wilderness.
You can resign yourself, or, you can search for the way out of the wilderness. “There must be more than this.” You can listen for the voice of someone crying in the wilderness. You can believe that the desert is not all that there is – that somewhere there is an kingdom, ancient and strong. You build your kingdom on the sand or you can go in search of this kingdom.
What have you done with your wilderness? Have you begun to build a kingdom without God? Have you just taken it for granted that God seems silent to you? Or does your heart ache for the Messiah? Have you prepared your ears to listen to the voice that comes screaming in the wilderness?
Lord, help me not to be satisfied with the wilderness. I want to want more. Amen.
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