Do you remember the most famous town cryer in our country’s history—Paul Revere? Do you remember the message he cried out? How do you think you might have reacted if you had heard it in person during that time of turmoil?
We don’t have town cryer’s today. We have all-day news sources. By being inundated with news, which often being mundane, we have lost the sense of importance and urgency of news. We have lost our ability to discern what is truly important.
In the first century, a town cryer or prophet brought important news that was often urgent. People stopped to hear the news and reacted almost immediately to it. If there was a king about to enter the city, the people quickly prepared themselves for his arrival.
John was the combination of a town cryer and a prophet. He was declaring the coming of the Lord. His message was urgent. The people were to prepare their hearts, not their minds, for His arrival. They were to be ready to hear the message the Lord would bring.
I wonder, in our loss of importance and urgency, if our hearts are prepared for His message. John still cries out for us to prepare ourselves. Jesus still brings the message of the Lord. We need to prepare our hearts to receive His message and react appropriately to it. May we be willing to listen and follow Him.
I pray we all prepare our hearts for the Lord. I pray we receive the message of Jesus. I pray each one of us are willing to hear both John and Jesus as we live each day of our lives. Prepare your heart for the Lord. Listen to John’s words. Listen to Jesus’ words. Accept the message of God. Commit to following Jesus.
John 1:23 He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
as the prophet Isaiah said.
Marty Pressey 