December 10, 2025

“A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.” – Isaiah 40:3

I’ve been on a western movie kick with my son lately. We have been checking out a lot of my favorite westerns from when I was young. One of the things that always amazes me as I watch those movies and think about that time in history is their travel across the wilderness. They ride their horses through what seems to be random woods, mountains, valleys, and fields with no visible trail. How do they do that? How do they know where they are going? The answer is that, in most of those situations, they have a guide; someone who knows the territory. That guide has all the landmarks and they have a compass. To that person, there is a clear path, even though no one else can see it.

We live in a moral wilderness. For those who do not have the landmarks and the compass, there is no clear path in life. But for those of us who have Christ as our landmark and the Scriptures as our compass, we know the way through the wilderness. Because of that, it is our job to be the guide for those around us…or as Christ put it, we are to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Isaiah 40:3 was a prophecy about John the Baptist. It was his job to prepare people for Jesus’s first coming. It is our job to lay out a clear path to the Savior so that those around us can be prepared for his second coming. What better time than Christmas to shine our light brightly into the world around us!

Heavenly Father, equip us and convict us to be guides for the lost through this barren wilderness. Teach us to take the opportunity that this celebration of Christ’s first coming affords in order to prepare those around us for the moment he will return in glory.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Shane Cannon