True To His Word

7 Dec

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.  (Is 40:3-5)

The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us that a promise is “a statement telling someone that you will definitely do something or that something will definitely happen in the future”.

The Old Testament is full of promises made by God through the prophets.  Throughout the ages, I am sure, there were many who thought that those promises would go unfulfilled.  After all, they had waited for generations but nothing had come about.

Yet, there were still many others who continued to believe.  They knew that they were in dire circumstances not because of God but because of their own doing.  Because they had become a sinful people, they were wondering in the desert.  But, God had promised to save them and they relied on that promise.

John the Baptist was the voice crying out in the wilderness.  He was the one who would remind his people not only of God’s promise but of the fact that God was fulfilling His promise, especially in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  God had promised and God was delivering on that promise.

God has promised us much throughout the ages and He has fulfilled all of His promises.  Now, He asks us to do the same, to be like Him.  We promised ourselves to God in our reception of the sacraments and yet there are times that we go back on that promise and engage in sin.  We promise things to others as well but are not always true to our word.

As God is true to His word, He ask us to be true to ours.

FAITH ACTION:  Think about the promises you have made to other people.  Are there any that are unfulfilled?  Do something about those today.