According to historical sources, it was customary in Old Testament times that whenever important persons would come into an area, a highway would be built with all the obstacles removed. It was designed to be as straight as possible with as little turning as could be managed, and a town crier would be sent ahead heralding, "Prepare the way." This is the meaning behind the prophecy found in Isaiah 40:3-4 which says, “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.’”
As the Gospels tell us, John the Immerser was the fulfillment of this prophecy. His was the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the people in his day to meet the coming Lord, Jesus Christ. And this is the word John the Immerser proclaimed to those people: Repent and remove the obstacles in your life and prepare the way into your heart, into your soul, and into your mind so that the Lord can come and make His habitation there.
Why did Jesus come to the Earth? As He said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” We were lost due to our sin so He came to restore us to a proper relationship with the Father. We were created in God’s image, and due to sin we are no longer able to approach God. Jesus, Who existed eternally with God, emptied Himself and came in human form in order to reshape the image of God in the depth of our own beings as we were originally intended. Upon self-examination we must always ask ourselves whether we are living according to God's plan, or our own willful way. How much love is missing from our hearts? What do we need to change in our life in order to be more like God? How many obstacles are in the way of our freedom we can have in Jesus Christ? What changes must we make in our lives that will help us to become images of God and the light to the world He would have us be?
I believe we all have a special responsibility to take a good look at ourselves, at our lives, at our thoughts, and at our hearts to make sure that the way to our hearts does not include an obstacle course preventing us from being with our Lord. That invitation is still being extended to you: "A voice cries out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the path of our God to your own heart." Accept the Lord’s gracious invitation. Prepare your hearts for Jesus so that He may easily find you and enter in your heart. He Himself says in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
May God bless you as you prepare for the Lord!
As the Gospels tell us, John the Immerser was the fulfillment of this prophecy. His was the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the people in his day to meet the coming Lord, Jesus Christ. And this is the word John the Immerser proclaimed to those people: Repent and remove the obstacles in your life and prepare the way into your heart, into your soul, and into your mind so that the Lord can come and make His habitation there.
Why did Jesus come to the Earth? As He said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” We were lost due to our sin so He came to restore us to a proper relationship with the Father. We were created in God’s image, and due to sin we are no longer able to approach God. Jesus, Who existed eternally with God, emptied Himself and came in human form in order to reshape the image of God in the depth of our own beings as we were originally intended. Upon self-examination we must always ask ourselves whether we are living according to God's plan, or our own willful way. How much love is missing from our hearts? What do we need to change in our life in order to be more like God? How many obstacles are in the way of our freedom we can have in Jesus Christ? What changes must we make in our lives that will help us to become images of God and the light to the world He would have us be?
I believe we all have a special responsibility to take a good look at ourselves, at our lives, at our thoughts, and at our hearts to make sure that the way to our hearts does not include an obstacle course preventing us from being with our Lord. That invitation is still being extended to you: "A voice cries out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the path of our God to your own heart." Accept the Lord’s gracious invitation. Prepare your hearts for Jesus so that He may easily find you and enter in your heart. He Himself says in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
May God bless you as you prepare for the Lord!
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