Isaiah 40:3-8
“A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert 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. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.””
Isaiah 40:3-8 NIV
Often times, we think we’re doing pretty good as we compare ourselves to the world, but none of us are without sin and God is always working to grow and develop our faith. So we need to make sure we are allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us and clean out the areas of sin so that God has a path to work in our lives the way that desires. All around us the world watches us. They want to know what is different about us. We can prepare the way for Jesus to come into the heart of someone else by living a life that honors and glorifies God in our words and actions. This passage defines the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord. He was to declare that when the Messiah came, His ministry would not only be one of reconciliation, but also one of reconstruction. He declared there would be a highway, built in the heart, on which God would travel. Four steps would be involved in the building process. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. In this beautiful symbolic language the prophet is saying that this is what God undertakes when He comes into our lives. When we have received His forgiveness, the next step is that He begins to change us, to reconstruct our lives. Every valley shall be raised up. In the low places of life, the discouraging times, times when you feel crushed and defeated, there will be comfort and encouragement from the Lord. Also, Every mountain and hill made low. All those places where our ego manifests itself our proud boasts, our grasping for power these must be cut down. We find ourselves humbled in many ways. Then, the rugged places are made a plain. Ah, but it is more than that, as we see in Verses 6-8. It is a word of reassurance as well. What is man? All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. All the great things we boast about will fade away and disappear. All man's knowledge and power will amount to nothing. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them but the word of our God endures forever. What a comfort that ought to be to us. Our natural strength will never accomplish what we want, human help will fail us. But the word of our God endures forever. May we take the role and responsibility that we have been awarded by our risen Saviour seriously. May we faithfully carry out the good work that God has prepared us to do and become a voice crying out in the wilderness, in a world of spiritually dead souls, who need a Saviour to save them from a lost eternity!!!
Father thank You for this day and the many prophets who proclaimed the coming of the Saviour, and thank You that by grace through faith we have believed their testimony and become in Christ. Lord let Your abundant blessing be my friend and family’s portion today. Lord help us to be a voice calling out in this wilderness of sin, proclaiming God's message of reconciliation to those that need a Savior. Lord use my friend and I to testify of the truth of Your Word that You came into the world to save sinners through Your sacrificial death and glorious resurrection and that by faith in Your name, lost sinners may be forgiven of their sin and declared righteous. Daddy we love You amen. Be a blessing. Love ya !!
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