Focus
Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.
Read
The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Reflect
On Fridays, if we can find a nice December day, the Methodist Pastor in town and myself like to play golf. We were playing a few weeks ago and we came upon a hold where our tee shot had to clear a large body of water. Of course, my tee shot landed in the middle of the water. My buddy said, “grab another ball; take a mulligan.” In golf a mulligan is a do-over, a free shot because you messed up on the previous shot. However, in the official rules of golf, mulligans are not allowed! If you lose a golf ball, you must take a one-stroke penalty. Life can be a lot more intimidating than standing over a shot trying to clear a few acres of water. Let’s all face it, in life we have all fallen short of the green a time or two. John proclaims a baptism of repentance for the FORGIVENESS of sins. God is saying to us, “Take a mulligan; I won’t ever charge you a one-stroke penalty.” Because of Jesus our penalty is covered.
Pray
God, remind us today that in our failures to find your forgiveness. Amen.
