Make it easy on him

Jesus, teach me not to make anything harder than it has to be! Amen.

John the Baptist was in the desert when he heard Jesus was going to start teaching people about God. Right away, John went all over the country, saying, "Get ready for Jesus! Fill up the valleys and cut down the mountains, and make a straight road for Him to travel!"

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be," your mother warns you. Whether you're squirming away from getting a flu shot or arguing over finishing your homework, you can probably see she has a point: Sitting still and being quiet means you'll get the hard stuff over with more quickly.

Of course, understanding someone's point of view doesn't mean you always do what they say! You still might flinch away from that shot or argue that "later" is the best time to worry about homework.

In this week's Gospel (Luke 3:1-6), John the Baptist is trying to make things easier for Jesus. He knows Jesus' job -- teaching people a whole new way to think about God -- is a tough one, so he goes around the country begging people, "Don't make it any harder than it is already!"

If you close your eyes and get a flu shot over with quickly, you can move on to the rest of your day. Sometimes, the nurse will even give you candy or a sticker for being good.

The same goes for homework: Get the hard stuff over with, and you'll be free to watch TV or play a game.

John wanted people to move on to the good part of Jesus' work. He hoped people would "make a straight path" for Jesus -- that they would get past their doubt that Jesus was from heaven and move on to believing in Him.

Getting the hard stuff over with often makes life a lot better!