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“Comfort,
comfort my people," says your God. "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell
her that her sad days are gone and that her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has
punished her in full for all her sins." Listen! I hear the voice of someone
shouting, "Make a highway for the LORD through the wilderness. Make a
straight, smooth road through the desert for our God. Fill the valleys and level
the hills. Straighten out the curves and smooth off the rough spots. Then the
glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The
LORD has spoken!"
(Isaiah 40:1-5 NLV). This is the first Sunday of Lent. Once
again we come to a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter. The more I
began to think about the act of preparation the more I was drawn to our reading
this morning. Over the years, I have heard this Bible verse many times. I have
always visualized a stone-paved road. These roads were somewhat different than
our highways of today. There was no pavement, but still the roadway fulfilled
its purpose of allowing people to travel. The roadbed still had to be prepared.
It needed to be graded and packed. Some
material had to be laid as a cushion for the pavement stones. It still required
preparation to be useful. Advances in travel have been amazing, especially since
the development of the airplane. We can now jet anywhere in the world in a short
period of time. Yet it takes many people a long time to build new highways and
bridges and airplanes, to carefully prepare them so they are useful to other
people. We
are constantly preparing for something. We prepare out homes for guests by
cleaning and cooking and taking out the trash. We prepare ourselves for the
day’s activities by combing our hair and finding clean clothes. We prepare for
meetings and vacations and the IRS. Preparation for daily life takes a lot of
time. It’s hard work. I wonder if we work as hard to prepare the way for our
Lord? Do we prepare our hearts for him? And after we say he is in our hearts, do
our lives show his presence through worship, prayer, and service to others? Are
we becoming the people God wants us to be? Today’s
reading calls us to be "prepared" for Jesus when he comes into our
hearts, we are to recognize him and imitate him. We follow his lead and further
his mission here on earth. Just like a highway project, it takes a lot of time
and effort to prepare a way for the Lord. And, like our paved freeways, our
preparation for God is not a one-time project, but one of on-going maintenance.
During this Lenten season, let’s think about the "preparation" we do
in our lives and make sure we are preparing for the right things, the things
that will matter to us eternally. Are you preparing “the way”? Here are just a few suggestions. First, pray in repentance and humility each day. Make sure that you have settled all your broken relationships with others. Even when it is impossible to contact them and restore the relationship, confess your anger and hurt before God and release them from all debt to you. Second, begin the day with personal worship. Even if it is no more than listening to a Christian tape or CD on the way to work, or while you begin your home chores, put the music of worship into your life each day. Third, consciously make an effort to minister kindness and grace to someone. Use a smile or a kind word to lift someone’s spirit to the Lord each day. Prepare the way! |
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