BONFIRES AND CAROLS

Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar happened upon a bonfire and people singing lovely songs about a child, the very king they were seeking.  Caspar, who loved his gold, wondered what was in the refiner’s pot -and he felt as though his affections were being refined.  Melchior wondered which trees were cut down to make the fire.  Balthazar was strangely silent.  He was like the father of John the Baptist, experiencing a silent period before the birth of a child.  In short, each in their own way was beginning to repent.

SCRIPTURE

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.  The voice said, “Cry out!”  And he said, “What shall I cry?”  “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. (Isaiah 40:3-7)

Then John said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ..even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9)

FOOLISH WISDOM

Finish these sentences multiple times in your journal.

One person who prepared the way for Christ in my life was …

One rude awakening I have had in my life was …

One tree I may need to chop at its roots is …

One tree that is bearing fruit in my life is …

If it didn’t look so crazy, one thing I would do for God is …

If it wasn’t so foolish, I might …