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In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 3:1-2

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

He wore really strange clothes made out of camel’s hair. It must have been scratchy and uncomfortable! He ate strange food too—locusts (kind of like grasshoppers) and wild honey. He probably didn’t smell very good either. But even so, people came from all over to hear him speak.

Who are we talking about? John the Baptist! Matthew 3:1-2 tells us: “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

John wore strange clothes and ate strange food because he had an important message: he wanted people to get their hearts ready to meet Jesus. Just like you get ready for Christmas—decorating the house, baking cookies, and cleaning up for guests—we also need to get our hearts ready to meet Jesus.

Jesus is our judge, and one day he will come to judge all people. We want to be ready to meet him. That’s why Jesus wants us to repent of our sins. Repent means to change our minds about sin. It means seeing our sins the way Jesus sees them. Our sins aren’t just little mistakes—they separate us from God and from each other.

Jesus wants us to confess our sins—say, “I’m sorry, Jesus, for the times I disobeyed you.” He wants us to trust that he was punished in our place and then turn away from sin.

Sometimes this is hard, isn’t it?

But in the end, those choices move us away from Jesus instead of closer to him.

He loves us too much to ignore our sin. That’s why he sent John the Baptist: to tell us to repent. Jesus is coming. The kingdom of heaven is near. Let’s get our hearts ready by turning away from sin every day.

Lord Jesus, thank you for reminding us to repent and confess our sins to you. We are sorry for the times we have sinned against you and others. Help us to turn away from our sin and follow you. Help us to be ready to meet you. We love you, Jesus, and we know you love us. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

Questions for Elementary Age Children

Questions for Middle School and Above

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