Reading: John 1:19-28, James 1:12-18, Ecclesiastes 2:1-16, Jeremiah 3-4

Recall:
John 1:23
He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”
as the prophet Isaiah said.

James 1:13-16
No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved.

Jeremiah 3:19-20
  I thought
how I would set you among my children,
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful heritage of all the nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband,
so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the LORD.

Reflect:
The prophets (and it seems to me especially Jeremiah, but it may just be because that is what I am currently reading) are so damn dramatic. It is really hard for me to pay attention when I am reading them. My mind wanders as Israel is repeatedly called a whore and the different metaphors for her destruction are listed. But sometimes I can let it wash over me, letting it be some kind of bizarre meditation.

The description in Jeremiah 3:19-20 applies to me so often. God sets me up in a beautiful place and I squander it.

"I am the voice crying out in the wilderness..." I love that image. That is really what all of us our now, I believe- facilitators of Jesus' coming, Jesus' presence. My job is to make people ready for the coming of the Divine.

The James passage is a keeper. I am going to memorize that one.

Respond:
I am going to prepare a way for the Lord. I want to live a life and proclaim a message that makes a straight path for Jesus to become involved in the lives of those around me. That means living a life in right relationship with God and right relationship with others.