The Voice in the Wilderness
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”Isaiah 40:1–3 (KJV)
Isaiah 40 opens with tender words: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” Then comes a voice. “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Centuries later a man in camel’s hair stood in that wilderness. Matthew says, “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias.” And when people asked John who he was, he didn’t point to himself. “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.”
Look closely at Isaiah’s words. The voice prepares the way of the LORD, our God. John was getting the road ready for God himself, and the one who walked down it was Jesus.
John was content to be a voice. He didn’t need to be the story. That is a good model for us in a busy season: point away from yourself, and make the road straight for Christ.
Read it yourself
Read John 1:19–27. List the things John says he is not, before he says who he is.
Where are you tempted to be the story, rather than the voice that points to Jesus?
Lord, make me a voice that points to you. Straighten the crooked places in my heart for your coming. Amen.