Daily Bible Reading Plans to help you read and understand God’s Word

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, Luke 1:5-25

We love taking trips throughout the year. While my family usually only starts thinking about the trip a week before we leave (when I remind them to start packing), I, however, have been planning and preparing for weeks or even months. I have made all the reservations, researched our destination, and created packing lists so we’re ready for almost anything. I make sure they know what to bring: warm clothes for cooler weather or backpacks and water bottles if we’re going on a hike. Even though unexpected things may still come up, I do my best to prepare us well. I do it because I love them and want them to enjoy the trip, feel relaxed, and be fully present together as a family.

In the same way, Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus. In today’s Scripture reading, we see that God had gone to great lengths to prepare His people for the one true Savior. In Isaiah 40:1–5, we read that God saw the struggles His people had faced for generations. He knew their pain and suffering, and He promised that it wouldn’t last forever. He comforted them, spoke gently to them, and assured them that He would make a way. There would be a path to repentance and hope.

In the New Testament, Luke 1:5–25 shows us that God continues to be faithful and fulfill His promises. The angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and told him that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child despite their old age. This child, who we know would be John the Baptist, would go before Jesus and help prepare the hearts of the people so they would be ready to worship the one true God. John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the day of his birth. He would be a great sign for the Lord going before Him and turning the hearts of the people towards God.

Gabriel’s message was hard for Zechariah to believe. Instead of trusting what the angel said, he questioned it—struggling to have faith in God’s plan. As a result, Gabriel told him he would be unable to speak until the child was born. It’s a powerful reminder that God can always be trusted, even when His plan doesn’t make sense to us.

These scriptures remind us, especially during Advent, of God’s faithfulness in preparing a way for His people to worship Him as the one true God. He had not forgotten. Instead, He was making a way for them to be in relationship with Him again, through hope in His Savior. Advent invites us to remember that we can trust God completely—He always knows what we need, and His timing is always perfect.

Written by Lauren Eve