What do we need to do to prepare the way?
My hubby and I have been attending a Bible study at our church. This one is focusing on the close relationship between the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.
It’s fascinating stuff. When we are able to look back across centuries and see how God weaves His plan throughout history. There’s no way the people living it could see it at the time, but God was at work.
When Isaiah was talking about, preparing the way of the Lord, “Make straight in the wilderness 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,” the people of the time had no way of knowing that he was talking about John the Baptist who would point to Jesus.
In our study, we talked about how we can prepare our hearts for the Lord. What valleys do we find ourselves in that keep us from Jesus? Are they valleys of despair or depression? Are they valleys of guilt? Are they valleys of feeling not good enough? Maybe the valleys are filled with pain.
The Bible says that those valleys will be raised.
What about our mountains? What blocks our path to Jesus? What hinders us? Is it our busyness? Is it pride? Is it anger? Maybe we have been hurt by people of the church before and just refuse to trust.
The Bible says those mountains will be made low.
The rough and rugged ground may be things that trip us up in our walk. These are things that might interfere with our best intentions. They could be simple things like fatigue or excuses. We have every intention of attending worship services or reading our Bibles, but something always comes up to keep us from it.
The Bible says the rough ground shall become level and the rugged places plain.
It’s amazing how words written thousands of years ago can speak so clearly today and be so timely. When we give our hearts to Jesus, when we surrender our hearts to Jesus, He raises up or lowers, or smooths out. He does whatever heart work that needs to be done.
He did all of that through the cross and because of that sacrifice, He prepared a way for us to be with God. So, now the question becomes what do we need to do to prepare our hearts?
It’s never too late. A Bible study reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂