|
Isaiah 40: 1-5
Comfort, comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling in the desert prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
As the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah note the voice calling in the desert to prepare the way for the Lord were spoken for the people of Israel, they were also used by John the Baptist at the beginning of his ministry. More recently we have heard these words through the music of our time in Handel’s Messiah, the Broadway musical Godspell, and the Advent Song sung in Christian congregations. This bold instruction has echoed through the ages and is heard again during this Advent season of our life.
What does this mean today? For me, for my community, for the world? How will my prayer be shaped with this invitation?
Loving God, be with me today as I journey in this second week of Advent. Help me to be aware of how I am to prepare for the Way of the Lord. Teach me how you would like me to be preparing during my work, play, struggles and joys of this day. Bless me as I hum “Prepare the way of the Lord” in my own unique tune. Amen
| 
