First Baptist Church Of Rock Island

 

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

"A voice of one calling:  ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.’” (Isaiah 40:3 NIV)

As our Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday on February 22^nd, in our Bible study times we will together be pondering how God used and still uses desert times to grow His people. 

During our times of study and reflection we will be using Ray Vander Laan’s DVD and study guide entitled “The Path To The Cross”.  In Chapter 1 the author speaks about a religious movement called the Essenes.  About 150 years before Jesus was born, these people established a community in the Judea Wilderness near the northern tip of the Dead Sea.

The prophet Malachi wrote that God’s Son would come after he and John the Baptist, God’s two messengers, had prepared the way (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3).

We need to understand that the Essenes were a community that was passionately committed to following God and His Word.  Ray Vander Laan states, “They knew that God wanted to dwell among them and believed with all their heart, soul, and strength that if they prepared the way he would come.” 

When I was in Israel, we saw the Judea Wilderness.  Seeing the barrenness of this desert helped me gain a new perspective of what it might have been like for the people in faith to go as God directed.  Still today this wilderness remains virtually uninhabited.  Its terrain is rough and steep.  When I was in the desert in Israel, it was important to me to take my hat off as I walked so I could feel the heat from the sun. I was carrying my water bottle as thirst quickly set in.  In this wilderness water is still lacking.  The people did not have the luxuries I had when I visited the desert.  In faith they depended on God to provide their every need. 

As we go into this Lenten season and this Study, I invite you to ponder this question, “Why did/does God choose desert places to grow us in our faith?”  I once heard it said, “Fruit does not grow on the mountaintops but in the valleys.”

It truly is in the tough times that we learn to depend more on God.  Join us for this Lenten study as together we grow in our faith as we come to appreciate our desert times.                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                               Pastor Janet