(Luke 3:3-6) Are we being called to prepare for the great thing we sense God is up to?  It is not enough to say, “When it happens I will get with it.”  You will notice in this passage that God called John to do preparatory work.  Are we available to prepare for something that has not yet arrived?

(Luke 3:7-9) Are we operating out of a sense of entitlement or are we responding to God’s costly and sacrificial call to embrace and serve his purposes?  We ought not to simply assume that we will be included as players in what God is up to simply because we are Jews, or Yeshua-believers.

(Luke 3:10-14) God calls us to repent within the context of who we already are, in the midst of our current callings and life situations.  If you are a parent, your repentance needs to be seen in your parenting, if a spouse, in your marriage, if you are a worker, in your work, if a friend, in your friendships.  This is a call to serve God’s purposes as who we are, where we are.

Our final questions are suggested by verses 15-18:

Are we ready to embrace what God is up to even though it includes unknowns?  Yochanan referred to the one who was coming after him, but did not say who he would be, what he would be like, only cryptic references to his power and the fact that he would come as judge and purifier of his people.  Are we ready to follow the will of God into the unknown?  Or do we have reasons to play it safe?  Are we prepared to accept good news with warnings attached?  Or do we demand a feel-good religion that always remains manageable from our side?  This brings us to a final question.  I believe we are at an important nexus, a connecting point with something new and decisive in the purposes of God.  We are indeed on the verge.  How then shall we live?