Here we stand on the doorstep of the second week of a new year. It felt as if Christmas and New Year would never come, but like all other days and years, they have faded into the dustbin of history and are now just memories. Time and tide wait for no one, and only God knows what the new year will bring. This could be the year the Lord Jesus returns to establish his millennial kingdom, when the Lord’s prayer is fulfilled, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
John the Baptist announced the first coming of Christ, and most people missed it. Like many great preachers today, he was a voice crying in the spiritual wilderness. “Prepare the way of the Lord.” He was sent by God to prepare His people for the first coming of their Messiah. John’s message of living in the light of the Lord’s second return is one we need to remember again and again because we forget so quickly.
Like John, we do not need to enter a literal desert to prepare for his return; we can transform ourselves and distance ourselves from the world, morally and spiritually, so we can hear God’s voice more clearly. Many achieve this through fasting and prayer. It’s a bit tough on the flesh, but it helps us stay focused and keep the main thing the main thing: seeking first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).
The apostle Paul did this from time to time. He reminds us in Romans 13: 12 (NIV) “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” This is what John the Baptist is calling us to do. Stay focused!
Paul goes on in Romans 13:13-14 and says, “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
John the Baptist serves as a powerful reminder and an inspiration for improving our daily lives. He reminds us that as Christians, we must guard our eyes, minds, and spirits. The eyes are the gateway to the soul, so we should protect them from anything harmful. Certain television shows, movies, novels, and worldly friends can have a corrupting influence on our lives if we are not spiritually vigilant.
This means that occasionally we should enter the desert of fasting and prayer to keep our hearts prepared for Jesus’ return. Why? Because we easily forget, and like mindless sheep, we quickly get sidetracked.
We are commanded to live in light of the Parousia return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Peter reminds us, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (II Peter 3:10-14, ESV).
The King is coming again. Let us not be so earthbound that we are unprepared for His second coming, just as most of Israel was unprepared for His first.
“Lord, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, Till You Come. Amen!
Dr.Robert Bryant