_Sometimes people on road crews are not very popular. It seems they always do things at the worst time, like during rush hour. They block off the entire freeway, while, they are way over on the other side doing their work. Some people get rather angry with them.

John the Baptist was on God's road crew. He was described as "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight... "(Luke 3:4-5). The word for "crying" could be translated "howling." He had a job to do, and he realized that he had a relatively short period of time to do it. His job was much like that of a herald who went ahead of a royal procession.

John was there to prepare the way for the Lord. He was on God's road crew, leveling the mountains, bringing up the low places. It was his task to prepare the nation for the Messiah and then to present the Messiah to them—and he wasn't very popular for it.

In a sense, that is our job as Christians as well. We need to realize that like John, our time is limited. We have to make every moment count. We don't want to waste time. And like John, we should be doing what we have been called to do.