Transformed – teen devotion – December 13, 2020
“B.C.” is the title of this month’s devotions. Each one highlights a prophecy indicating Christmas would happen long before that night Jesus was born dividing time itself into B.C. and A.D.
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
Isaiah 40:3-4
The voice
He visits with several teenagers each week. They walk into his counseling office to talk through the issues they are facing and the struggles they are having. Topics range from addiction to suicide to depression to anger and more. This counselor spends hours each week listening to what’s eating away at all of these teenagers.
It’s complex. But among the many commonalities, one stuck out. He said, “There are so many voices vying for their attention and affection. The hard part is to realize the seldom few that are actually trying to help them.”
Social media, school, friends, family, the news, marketing—can you hear and even see all the voices that want something from you? In a world that cares mostly about getting and taking, can you see that so much of what we hear isn’t trying to help us? Especially as we get closer to Christmas, countless voices want our time, our attention, our money, our allegiance, our clicks, our love. And what can the world give in return? Short-lived pleasure or happiness at best?
That’s why God, through his Word, gives us noise-canceling headphones which tune into a clear voice that promises and provides. Long before Jesus ever came, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah about a voice in the wilderness. He would point people to the One who would give the life we cannot find in this world. John the Baptist would point people to the coming Savior, Jesus Christ, not because God wants to take our money, time, and energy like this world. Rather, God wants to give. In Jesus, we have a smooth pathway to life with God. He perfectly lived through all the highs and lows of his life, and even died on the cross to give us eternal peace so that we would know that his voice is the one that promises everything and actually delivers.
Prayer: Gracious Savior, tune my ears to listen to all of your eternal promises. Help me cancel out the noise as I trust in you. Amen.
