Friday 19 December 2025
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. (v. 3)
Background
I have lovely neighbours. They keep an eye on my house and garden if I am away and even looked after Patricia (my little dog) when I went to Northern Ireland for a few days to see friends I hadn’t seen for 34 years. In return I feed them. I provide homemade soups, bread, scones etc, as well as pickles and preserves.
At the beginning of September, I shocked them by enquiring if they would like homemade mince pies and pin wheel sausage rolls for Christmas this year. The reply was a rather astonished ‘Yes please’ but also they remarked that I seemed to be very organised. (As I write this, we haven’t yet got to the end of October and all my presents are bought, the food is ordered and my Christmas cards are due to arrive next week.)
Preparation is very much the theme of today’s Bible passage. Indeed, the whole season of Advent is a period of getting ready – not just presents and food etc, but it’s when we take time to prepare ourselves.
It's time to stop and take stock of our lives and living. Time to re-examine what this whole ‘faith thing’ means to us. Time to prepare to celebrate the giving of the greatest gift afforded to humanity in the form of a baby in a manger who became a living example of God at work, a crucified Saviour and a Risen Lord.
The words of our passage are echoed loud and clear in the proclamation of John the Baptiser (Matthew 3:1-3). He called the people to get ready for what God was doing in their midst.
In Advent that same call to prepare for what God is doing in our midst continues to echo through the millennia to reach our lives and living.
To Ponder:
- Apart from the glitz and glitter we expect as part of society’s preparation for Christmas, how are you preparing, during Advent, for the coming of the Messiah?
Prayer
Laid in a manger. Walking the dusty roads bringing healing and hope. Facing opposition, betrayal and death. Risen Lord, enlarge our vision of your life and purpose that our lives might reflect the ‘God with us’ each and every day. Amen.
Bible notes author: The Revd Una McLean
Una is a retired presbyter living in Northumberland with her small dog Patricia. She enjoys all manner of craft work, reading, theatre, cinema and music. She also participates in Traildog events, which grew out of people running in local park runs with their dogs (today she and Patricia walk them as Una treasures her knees).