Here is a devotion to start your day!
A spoken version of this devotion is available through the Still, Here audio reflections podcast.
Scripture: Luke 3:1–6
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. All flesh will see God’s salvation.’”
Reflection
John the Baptist’s life is a study in holy obscurity. He wears rough clothes, eats wild food, and lives far from the center of influence. Yet crowds go out to him. His call is simple and sharp: prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight paths. Repent. Get ready.
Luke sets the scene for John’s sermon with a list of emperors, governors, and high priests—the powerful names of the age. Then, almost as an afterthought, he says: “The word of God came to John… in the wilderness.” Not to a palace or a temple. To a man in the margins.
The wilderness becomes a staging ground for God’s new work. It is where old expectations are challenged, where hearts are leveled and valleys are lifted, where rough places are made smooth. John’s voice is not gentle, but it is full of grace: he refuses to let people sleepwalk into God’s visitation.
Lent is a season to listen for such voices—sometimes external, often internal—that call us to clear space for Christ. The clutter may be sin, or simply noise. The crooked paths may be compromise, or just busyness. Either way, the invitation is the same: let love remake the terrain of your heart.
You may feel small and peripheral, like John. Yet a life rooted in the wilderness of God’s presence can still prepare the way for others to meet Jesus.
A Prayer of Presence
God who speaks in the wilderness,
Help me see more clearly the wonder of Your love. Tune my ears to Your call. Level what is proud, lift what is low, and straighten the paths in my heart, so Christ may come freely in and through me. – Amen
Practice for Today
Ask God to show you one “crooked path” in your life—an area of compromise, clutter, or distraction. Make one concrete change today to clear that path, however small.
Consider This...
What might it look like, in this season, for my life to be “a voice in the wilderness” that helps others see and respond to Jesus?
Carry This Prayer With You Today
Breathe in: Prepare the way…
Breathe out: … for Your presence in me
This work is freely shared. If it nourishes your life with God, you’re welcome to help sustain it.