Mobility

I was watching a video last night and the Scripture reference was the following.

In the wilderness prepare  the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. - Isaiah 40:3-5

Now the speaker in the video was referring to the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  He was speaking to this group of Jews who moved into a remote desert location near the Dead Sea and had an obvious difficult life in the desert, but they did so as a part of their beliefs (we would call that downward mobility today).  He was describing how they found water and channeled it to their city and how they focused their culture on knowing the Word of God as the center of their existence.  It was all interesting although I don't think I have the same passion for this sect of Jews as he does.  But his question was this, if finding God and being close to God were to require that we live a more difficult and simple life, would we be willing to do it?  .... Yikes! ... In other words, if we lived much more frugal and didn't have to work so much to live so we could spend more time in direct study of God's Word and its application, are we willing to do that?  Well? (I know, it's a deep subject.)

Rare, today or in any time, is the family or person who will pass up a prominent career to be a missionary.  I think of the Womble's in Russia.  Two electrical engineers degreed from Georgia Tech.  Their support is mainly from well-to-do engineers in the Atlanta area that they went to school with!  Or the Bundy's, Brett has a degree in Pre-Med and surely would be earning a good salary in that profession.  Our society would call that downward mobile, but I can most assuredly say they would call it upward mobile.  And I think they wonder why we aren't more like them, that is, those of us who call ourselves Christian.

As I read this Bible text, which I think is commonly referenced to John the Baptist, I am not sure that I completely understand what it is calling towards.  Shall I go to the wilderness and make straight a road, fill valleys, and level mountains?  More study is required here.