Clearing the pathway

 Clearing the Pathway

John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptised to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!

The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level.

The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.

And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’”

LUKE 3.3-6

If you live in a place where there are significant temperature changes, then you probably know what potholes are. Potholes are places on the surface of a road where a portion has broken away, leaving a hole.

Potholes can be annoying when we come across them on the road, but most of our roads today are luxurious compared to the roads in ancient times. Because the roads were so bad then, when a king was preparing to visit a certain area, a team of people went ahead of him to build smooth roads to make his journey as easy and direct as possible.

This is what the prophet Isaiah had in mind when he made the prophecy that John the Baptist would prepare the way for Israel’s future King, the Messiah. John was the “voice shouting” for people to prepare not their roads but their hearts for the coming of Jesus. Preparing a pathway for King Jesus requires repentance  — getting rid of anything and everything that puts a barrier between us and God. Repentance clears the pathway for him to come to us.

To prepare our hearts for the King means that we tear down mountains of stubborn opinions and fill up valleys created by shallow, pleasure-seeking habits. We clear away obstacles of meaningless rituals and lingering conflicts. We clean up everything that is cluttering the pathway between us and God. God wants to build a highway into our lives so he can come and dwell with us.