PREPARE THE WAY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 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

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

These words resonate in our hearts and minds as we read this scripture passage, often drawing us immediately to the words of John the Baptist as he repeated these very words of Isaiah while announcing the coming of Jesus, the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sins of the world:

In those days, John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is He who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Matthew 3:1-3

But to believe these words were simply a precursor to John pronouncing Jesus’ arrival would be missing the bigger picture here. For these words of exhortation for preparation are for each of us to ponder and act on so you and I, like John, can prepare the way for the Lord to come.

It’s a two part process.

First, we must prepare ourselves and make the way for the Lord. In other words, there is no way we can even begin to help others prepare the way for the Lord in their lives and the lives of people around them if we haven’t first made that way within our own heart, mind, and soul. This means we need to remove every obstacle that is in the way of the Lord having a clear pathway to work in and through us via the Holy Spirit. For example as we look back to our scripture passage:

1. We must allow the Lord to bring us up from the valleys of despair, worry, hatred, stress, and fear.

Every valley shall be raised up.

You don’t have the strength to handle the difficulties you face in life. Not even close. We are all broken in some way, some more than others, and the only One who can put us back together again in a way that makes us stronger than we were before is the Lord God Almighty but we need to surrender our burdens to Him for that to happen (Philippians 4:6-7). When we do, he lifts us from the valleys and onto the straight narrow path of righteousness that He walks upon, holding our hand as we choose to walk alongside Him.

2. We must allow the Lord to bring us down from the mountain of pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness.

Every mountain and hill made low.

We can either humble ourselves or the Lord will bring circumstances into our life where we will be humbled. Many have fallen down the mountain of selfishness and conceit into the valley of anguish, shame, and dejection. It would have been so much easier if they would have just humbled themselves, dying to self so that the Lord might live within them and bring them down onto the same narrow path that those in the valley rise to.

For it’s only when we commit ourselves to be none of who we want to be and all of what the Lord wants us to be, that we will find ourselves properly prepared to make the way for Him and help others find their way to His straight paths, the second part of what the word of God is trying to teach to us today. You see, preparing the way is not an option for us but rather a command, a command that we have to obey if the prophecy of Isaiah as spoken from the mouth of the Lord is going to succeed.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.

In order for all people to see the glory of the Lord together, they need to first have prepared the way for Him in their hearts and minds. For how can we possibly understand and appreciate the full glory of the Lord in all its majesty if we haven’t fully come to appreciate Him. This doesn’t work if just some people see and acknowledge it. The scriptures say that all people will see it and will do so together. All people.

Now think about all the people you know. There should be a significant number in mind.

Now, holding those people in mind, ask yourself this, “How many of them have truly prepared the way for the Lord in their hearts, minds, and souls?”

The answer can be troubling and perhaps it needs to be, for it convinces us how much work there is yet to do in advancing the kingdom of God here on earth through His Son Jesus Christ, how much is yet to be done when it comes to this matter of preparing the way.

Friends, this is no time for the people of the Lord to be resting in their comfort zone. Rather, it’s time to roll up our collective sleeves and get to work. For when one prepares the way for the Lord in their life, their work is not over but rather has only begun. When you work for the Lord, you will always be employed full time with plenty of overtime.

It’s time to get to work.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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