John tells the people to get ready
(A story from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3, verses 1-6)
About 2000 years ago, God spoke to John, the son of the Jewish priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. John was sort of a wild guy. He lived outdoors all the time. God told John to go to the Jordan River. John knew that the Jordan River was a very special place. So he did what God told him to do.
Here is why the Jordan River was a special place for John and all the Jewish people. Many, many, many generations before, God had formed a holy friendship with their ancestors. God promised to give them a special place to live, where they could raise their families. The people began to call that place "the Promised Land." For many years they had made their way from Egypt, across the desert, toward the Promised Land. God showed their leader, Moses, how to get there. But Moses died before the people entered the Promised Land. Moses' trusted helper, Joshua, had taken them into the Promised Land by crossing through the Jordan River.
After John got to the Jordan River, God told him, "I am about to do something really, really important. Tell everyone that it is time to turn their lives around." There is a special word that means "turn your life around." That word is "repent." John began to preach all day long. "It is time to get right with God," he shouted. "Turn your lives around! Repent! Come! Be baptized in the Jordan River. Let the water of this special river wash your old ways of living away. Get ready for a fresh new life with God!"
Many people did come to the Jordan River. They were baptized by John. In fact, he came to be known as John the Baptizer, or John the Baptist. One day Jesus himself came to be baptized by John, but that is a story for another day.
When John baptized them, many people felt different. They felt like they were a little more ready for whatever God was about to do. It reminded them of the words of the prophet Isaiah, another holy man like John who had lived outside in the wilderness and talked with God. Years and years ago, Isaiah had told the people:
"Prepare the way of the Lord. Fill every valley. Level every mountain and hill. Make crooked pathways straight and rough roads smooth. Then get ready, because God will come."
Questions to think and pray about:
• I wonder if you have ever heard God speak to you. I wonder what you did.
• I wonder why we hear this story during Advent, as we wait to celebrate Jesus' birth.