In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” That is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah. Matthew 3:1-3a (NIV)
John the Baptist was what we today call an itinerant preacher. The prophet Isaiah described him as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the LORD.’”
John told the people to repent, to turn away from sin and not return to those ways.
During the wandering of the Israelites, they would stop doing things that God did not like but they always seemed to fall back in their sinful ways.
When they closely followed God, things went well. However, when the Israelites fell into sin and did not follow God’s ways, their collective life was in torment. A former Sunday school teacher made the analogy of a roller coaster ride—they followed God, all things went well; they disobeyed God and all things did not go well at all.
As a people, we face difficulties at every turn. Nothing happens in our world that gets accepted by a vast majority of us.
We must trust the LORD and wait patiently for Him to act. We also must prepare our hearts for Him to use us according to His will.
Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.