Father, what a full day of blessings! Good runs on my routes today with Your hedge of protection around me. A wonderful time of fellowship with new friends. And some quality time with my favorite girl! Thank you, Father, for all that You are to me!
Luke 3:1-6 (<<click to read the passage)
Fast forward 20+ years and neither Zechariah’s son, John, nor Jesus are children any longer. Their miraculous beginnings have not been forgotten by those close to them, but the world has moved on. Rome is still “in charge” and if anything, the corruption of politics and religious structure has only deepened.
And then, out of the wilderness, steps John. He will come to be known as John the Baptist. He is fulfilling God’s call on his life by being the precursor of the Messiah – Jesus – who is close on his heels.
Luke quotes a passage from the writings of Isaiah to introduce John’s mission, which ultimately is just one more piece of the puzzle of God’s ultimate mission – the salvation of the world!
Luke actually quotes of the Greek version of this Old Testament passage,
He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear a road for our God!
Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
And then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see the salvation sent from God.
The Lord has spoken!”
I love what the Amplified Bible interjects in regard to the preparation – remove the obstacles! Prepare…clear…fill in…level…their dreams were finally coming to fruition and they had to be ready! For that matter, we have to be ready, too! Jesus came as much for us as He did for them!
Two points need to be made here.
First, as my Life Application Study Bible puts it, “To prepare the way means clearing aside the baggage of the past and doubts of the present in order to let the King come into your life.” We cannot fix ourselves. We are incapable of ridding ourselves of the sin in our lives. Jesus, and only Jesus, has the power to do that but preparing the way means that we must open ourselves to His work in our lives.
Second, when it says all people will see the salvation sent from God, it opens the doors wide! It says all people, no one is left out. No one is excluded. Let that sink in. Absolutely, positively, irrevocably no one is left on the outside looking in.
We in our humanity like to be divisive. We like to be a part of the “haves” and delight in sticking it to the “have nots”. No matter where you go, every culture, every schoolyard, every office…and unfortunately, many churches have this mentality. And let me be very clear, that kind of mindset is not – I repeat not – God’s mentality. It’s not even close!
John 3:16 underscores God’s mindset,
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (NLT) – emphasis mine
What an awesome offer! What an indescribable gift from our Heavenly Father! We – every single one of us – is cherished! We are chosen! And all we have to do is accept what He extends to us! Lord Jesus, may we do so!
Nov 13th, 2019, Wed, 7:59 pm
