A voice calling...

 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

    "Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
   who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    'Prepare the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight,'"

 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

~Mark 1:2-8

A voice cries out from the wilderness and prepares the way of the Lord.  John the Baptist was a freak.  He stormed onto the scene preaching radical ideas.  He was pretty much homeless, had a wild get up, and ate bugs and honey.  As prophets go, he preached repentance and the Law, but balanced it with Gospel knowing full well that God would save His people.  We read this text during Advent because it helps us prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ.  

John the Baptist is an interesting story.  He was the baby in the womb of Jesus' mother Mary's sister Elizabeth.  The story goes that went Mary, carrying Jesus in her womb, was in the presence of Elizabeth, carrying John, the baby inside Elizabeth leapt for joy.  What an incredible story.  Even then, John knew how big a deal this Jesus was.  And he knew what he was preaching about and what our eyes should be focused on.  The Christ child, Jesus, is where our focus is to be.  

Our hearts are prepared with joy as we anticipate His coming.  And how great would it be if we could anticipate it and follow it through like John the Baptist.  John was eventually beheaded for his preaching, a true Jesus freak.  Tradition says the first Christian martyr is St. Stephen.  This blogger says John the Baptist is.  He preached repentance and forgiveness and was the final prophet before the coming of the One into the world.  John prepared and made straight the pathways before Jesus' coming, and was killed for it.  Oh if only we could follow the straight pathways John made and march on in Truth and Love toward one another and toward our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  

DC Talk's most famous song, Jesus Freak, has a verse dedicated to this John the Baptist.  May we be a people who fearlessly follow just as John the Baptist did. 

There was a man from the desert with naps in his head
The sand that he walked was also his bed
The words that he spoke made the people assume
There wasnt too much left in the upper room
With skins on his back and hair on his face
They thought he was strange by the locusts he ate
The pharisees tripped when they heard him speak
Until the king took the head of this jesus freak