| St. Luke tells us that, "The word of God was spoken to John the son of Zechariah in the desert" (Luke 3:2). The word came not to one of the high and mighty, or one of the lords of society, living in an impressive palace or temple. It came to John in the desert.
And that word tells us that God is about to act. Just as he brought his children home from exile in Babylon, so now he is going to bring them back from an interior, spiritual exile.
John speaks: "Make ready the way of the Lord, clear for him a straight path. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be leveled. The windings shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth" (Isaiah 40: 3-4). John is saying that his job is to prepare for the mighty coming of the Lord. He is to build the highway that will facilitate his arrival. Change is coming, a revolution is on the way.
So prepare the way of the Lord.
And how should we prepare? Through the baptism of repentance. Baptism—an immersion in water—reminded first century Jews of the Exodus, passing through the Red Sea, leaving their ways of slavery behind. Baptism reminded the people that God would humble the powers of their time as he once humbled Egypt and Babylon.
Repentance (metanoia) means going beyond the mind that you have. How our minds are conditioned by the fallen world! How our expectations are shaped, stunted by what has gone before! It's time, John is saying, for a new mind, a new set of eyes, a new kind of expectation.
God is about to act! Be ready! | 
{UAH} Mivule’s conversion, Ruga’s Law and when a man has no mind to change
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