O God,
The wilderness still calls.
And I hear the voice
rough, wild, unpolished
shouting what my heart has long tried to ignore
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
God, I confess…
I have built my life too close to comfort.
I have feared the wilderness because it strips me.
But You sent Your prophet there.
You sent Your voice there.
And You walked into it Yourself.
Let the cry of repentance shake me.
Tear through the religious games I play.
Rip the masks off my piety.
I don’t want to be a Pharisee.
I don’t want a name without fire.
I don’t want fruitless leaves,
proximity without purity,
status without surrender.
God, burn away the chaff in me.
If You must, bring the axe to the root
the root of pride, the root of self.
I don’t care if I am undone.
I don’t care if I am exposed.
Just don’t let me be a tree that bears no fruit.
Holy Spirit, come like fire.
Come like the One John spoke of
not with mere water,
but with a baptism that releases, refines, consumes.
Jesus, baptize me again
in fire and Spirit,
in truth and power,
in love that burns through pretense.
And O God how You humbled Yourself.
The sinless One stepping into filthy water.
You, Lord of heaven, standing among the broken,
asking to be baptized by a man who wasn’t worthy to carry Your sandals.
Why?
Why would Perfection bow?
Why would Holiness enter the water of repentance?
To fulfill all righteousness.
To walk with us, not above us.
To show us the way into death,
so we could rise with You into life.
And then
the heavens opened.
And the Father spoke.
And the Spirit descended.
And love thundered down
“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
God, I ache to hear that.
Not because I’ve earned it,
but because I’ve been found in Christ.
Cover me with the same pleasure.
Let those words echo over my soul:
"Beloved. Mine. I am pleased."
So I come again to the water.
I lay down the sin I’ve coddled.
I step into the river with trembling hands,
and I rise, dripping in grace,
ready for fire,
ready for the Kingdom,
ready for the Lamb.
In the name of Jesus, the Righteous One, Amen