The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
Mark 1:1–3, ESV
A voice crying in the wilderness. What is the wilderness that we face? At the time of the coming of Jesus, the Promised Land was under Roman rule, and the Chosen People were under oppression. They were crying out to God for change, remembering God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt and awaiting the promised coming of the Messiah. God sent His forerunner in John as he proclaimed the coming of the one promised by Isaiah, and we continue to hear and celebrate this as we await His return. Our hearts cry out for more to be led into worshiping and following the One true God and turning from the crooked ways that have plagued us since being cast out of the Garden. We yearn for the real Promised Land in which we will walk daily with our Lord ever visible before us and with no sin in our hearts or in the world. We know this promise will come, but when this will happen is not for us to know. We trust and await this coming and seek God to straighten our paths in life so that we not be led down the crooked ways that lead away from God.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.