“Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9).

The axe is the recompense of sin.  The wages of sin is death.  We each will die the mortal death that is appointed for all.  We do bear fruit, but is it the fruit of sin or the fruit of righteousness?  We are called from the death that holds us in bondage to the new life which Christ offers.  We can be burned up with our own passions, or be freed to learn how to live as the Lord created us to live.  This is the offer before us all.

Lord God, Creator of all worlds, You created us to be in a loving relationship with You and with one another.  Sin has led us to curve in on ourselves where we have neither.  You have come to shine the light for as many as would see in order that those who will see may walk in the light.  Shine Your light once again and let me see.  Help me to understand how simple the Gospel really is.  I need to be redeemed, and You are the Redeemer.

Lord Jesus, I do not want to say it, but I need to say it.  Cut away at the root.  I need to die to sin, death, and the devil.  You must be the Author and Finisher of my faith.  Help me learn how to trust Your leading, and then go where You send me.  Help me to listen, and then obey Your commands.  Through all things, guide me in the way of true righteousness, living into the new life You offer.  Amen.

“So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham” (Luke 3:7-8).

At first, it seems so offensive, but when sinners sin, are they not lashing out with vitriol?  It is sometimes true that people are like a brood of vipers.  And then there are those who have religion.  Some “vipers” hide behind religion and call their wickedness good in the name of religion.  We all need to repent and turn to the Lord.  In His mercy, he will get rid of the poison of sin.

Lord, I want to think these words are for others, but they are also for me.  I have played the game of religion so that outwardly others think me decent, but You know that I am filled with sin and do not live as You have required me to live.  Lead me into repentance so that I learn how to truly live.  Raise me to the place where I am able to bear fruit befitting Your presence in my life.

Lord Jesus, You have come into our midst, and we each are where we are.  In Your mercy, You heal me of the disease of sin.  It will take as long as it takes but help me to look to You and trust in the healing You give.  Guide me away from those places where I need to repent and then aid me to repent.  Help me to see that You are my Savior and that I cannot gain unmerited favor from any other.  Amen.

“‘Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; the crooked will become straight, and the rough roads smooth; and all flesh will see the salvation of God’” (Luke 3:5-6).

The pitfalls of this world are being and have been overcome.  The Lord levels everything so that the greatest and the least are on equal footing before the Lord.  He has come to make our crooked ways straight.  He has come to lead us out of this life of rebellion and self-will into a life which lives in harmony between Creator and created.  All are invited into the new life which is offered through Christ.

Lord, I look around and make judgements.  I have desires and act upon them.  Through penitence, that is willing repentance, guide me to the level ground where I do not seek my will, but for Your will to be done.  Help me on the way You have set before me so that I see the salvation which You have prepared before all people.  Teach me all that these things mean.

Lord Jesus, You are the One who lifts up the lowly.  You are the One who slays our haughtiness.  You are the One who smooths the road before us.  Set me on the right path to follow You as You prepare the way of salvation before me.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, guide me in the right way of living this life as You prepare me to live the life which is to come.  Guide me in faith by grace to live as the Father would have me live.  Amen.

“And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight” (Luke 3:3-4).

The beginning of the Gospel introduces repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  The Lord alone forgives, but we need to be willing to be forgiven.  We have the will to expect, but we also have the ability to give up that will in contrition.  Perhaps humility is a word that describes this ability.  This is the beginning place for us all, humbly coming to the Lord in repentance, being forgiven so that we can continue on the journey of salvation.

Gracious Lord, You offer mercy to the contrite.  It is not my act of repentance, but Your mercy which forgives.  Help me to hear and heed the words which call for me to repent whenever and wherever it is needed.  Lead me in the way of everlasting life.  Conform me to what You know I need to be reformed.  Guide me in Your will to walk according to Your ways in the grace You give me.

Lord Jesus, You were baptized with a baptism of repentance.  You have led the way and we are to follow.  Help me to overcome the willfulness in me that thinks I am exempt from anything You know I need.  Guide me to look to You, and then follow, without any second thoughts my will might inject.  Teach me how to be obedient, as You were obedient to the Father’s will, in all that I experience.  Amen.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness” (Luke 3:1-2).

As it was thirty years before, the specificity of time and place is spelled out for those who think in these terms.  God gives us the information we need to believe and not doubt.  It takes more work not to believe than to believe.  Look at the details, explore, think, and reason and you will discover the depth of what God has given us through His word.  The Lord is speaking to each one of us.

Lord, I may not know the depths of the mystery of all that You have created, but if I am willing, You will show me what I need to know.  Help me to see and hear what You have given me so that I may go farther and deeper into the knowledge You offer.  Lead me to learn how to see the evidence and think, reason, meditate, and devote time to understand better all that You have given me.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the witness You have provided so that I may live out the faith which You have given me.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to know that in You I have life in this time and place where I am.  With my thankfulness, lead me forward in the journey of faith which You have placed before me.  Guide me now and always in the way of salvation which You have prepared.  Amen.

“And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.  And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:51-52). 

Jesus was in subjection to His parents.  God-with-us willingly subjected Himself for our sake.  Is this not the reality of the amazing story of the Gospel.  God became one of us in every way, only He lived perfectly without sin.  This world vies for authority and power, but that is all fleeting.  God comes to lead us into His house, which is forever.  Yes, this world requires subjection; but in the Lord there is freedom. 

Almighty Father, You gave Your only Son for our sake.  By His example, You did not come as the tyrants of this world do, heaping on yet more commands.  You lovingly gave Your Son who lovingly submitted to Your commandments in this world.  Help me to see the way of freedom, even if, to me, it at first seems a more difficult and a binding path.  Guide me up and out of this world to Your home. 

Lord Jesus, You willingly submitted to Your earthly parents and did what was right.  Although the Father’s business is always pressing, You waited for the right time.  Teach me to trust in Your timing for all things and do what the Father would have me do according to His schedule.  By Your example, help me to willingly submit to all things necessary for the sake of the Gospel.  Amen.

“And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”  But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them” (Luke 2:49-50).  

We, too, look for the Lord, thinking He is not with us because we want something else and not the Lord.  The Lord is always with us, but He is working out His purpose. and sometimes He does not do what we want or expect.  We have been invited into the Father’s house.  Once there, why would we want to leave?  Come into the Father’s house where there are many rooms.  Jesus has come to lead each one of us on the way home. 

Lord, You know the many times where I have wanted something to be other than what it was.  I wondered where You were.  Your word clearly says that You are always with me, so if I do not think You are there, I am denying Your word.  Help me to not live with the anxiety of this world, but in the truth of the revelation You have given me through Your word.  Teach me how to understand. 

Lord Jesus, guide me into Your word so that I may grow in understanding.  You have always been about the Father’s will, with the final thing in Your earthly life then being the subjection to death.  In the mystery of life and death, help me live faithfully, knowing each day that You are always with me.  Guide me moment by moment, day by day, to do those things which are pleasing to the Father.  By Your grace, I can live well by Your encouragement.  Amen. 

“And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.  When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You” (Luke 2:47-48).  

 Is it not amazing how we each see Jesus in our own way?  The teachers marveled at the answers of Jesus.  His mother saw Him as a twelve-year-old boy.  He is the same Jesus.  Many in our world do the same thing, treating Jesus as different from us.  But what about you?  Do you see Him as your Lord and Savior?  Will you follow the One who has come to save all who believe? 

You know Lord that I often see people the way I want to see them, and not as they are.  You have commanded me to love my neighbor, but I often make judgements first.  Lead me away from this worldly way of seeing things through my own eyes to see things through Your eyes.  Guide me in sitting at Jesus’ feet so that I may learn.  Help me to be amazed by the answers You give me. 

Lord Jesus, God and man, Savior of the world, You have come to lead the way.  In You there is hope and a future.  Lead me this day and help me not to look at others through my eyes, judging them by my criteria, but through Your eyes of love.  Teach me to love my neighbor as You are teaching me how to love You and the Father as One.  By Your mercy and grace, lead me.  Amen.

“When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.  Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions” (Luke 2:45-46).  

Jesus was where He belonged.  We may not fully understand, but many who may have been there would have met Jesus later, when He began His public ministry.  They would have remembered the inquisitive insightful boy who was in the temple.  The Lord is very intentional in all of the things He does.  There was a purpose for everything, including the telling of this story for us to hear and ponder upon. 

Lord, I sometimes think in terms of there and then rather than realize that You have done what You have done once for all.  With great purpose You have provided the way of understanding by Your grace.  Guide me in the upward call You give to all people so that I might pay attention to the small things as well as the large things, knowing that all things are working together for good in Your love. 

Lord Jesus, God made flesh, how I would like to have been there, but have You not told us all of the things You said?  You publicly preached and said the same thing with the questions and parables that You spoke.  Help me to hear what You are saying and to respond in faith, trusting in the grace You give.  Open my heart and mind to give and receive according to the Father’s will in order to become more like You.  Amen.

But His parents were unaware of it, but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances” (Luke 2:43a-44).  

We are sometimes unaware of what is happening.  We can trust too much in our own expectations that we fail to see that things are not going as we think they ought to be.  Life is often full of surprises.  We become anxious and do not think clearly.  The Lord is doing what He is doing.  It is not He who conforms to us, but He calls us to be conformed to Him.  This is the Father’s world, and it shall be as He has created it to be. 

Lord, in my anxiety, help me to take time to sit back, reflect, and ask the question, “What are You doing?”  Help me to not be anxious in this world, for I know that sin has made a mess of things.  Aid me to reflect upon my own sin and the problems it causes.  May I come to You, be instructed in the good, true and beautiful, and walk in the way You set before me.  Lead me into the righteousness You offer by grace. 

Lord Jesus, You honored Your parents, but You also had the call of the Father upon Your life.  You understand the conflicts of this world pressing in against what needs to be done.  Help me to look to You when there are difficulties in order to understand that You will lead me the way I need to go.  When pressed, all the more, guide me to take each step as You show me, so that I may walk in this life by Your direction.  Amen.