The Voice in the wilderness
Pride and Arrogance
Mercy and Grace
Scripture Title: Prepare the Way
Pastor Greg Wiest
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:3-5 “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.””
Isaiah’s message to the entire nation of Israel was to repent of the sin that is preventing you from fully embracing the Messiah. They needed to remove the barriers and obstacles of rebellion for His arrival. Things like pride and arrogance. Being too tied up in this world. Lacking in belief that the Messiah was actually coming. They were saying one thing and doing another. Often the inroads to the heart are blocking Jesus the Messiah from fully entering in and bringing about salvation and transformation. More often than not it is sin that we refuse to let go of. For the unbeliever, repenting or changing direction begins by admitting “I am headed in the wrong direction about the meaning of life and what God desires of me.” This is the greatest obstacle on Christ’s road to your heart. Ultimately, the Lord calls you to follow Him. He wants to come into your life. But you have got to admit that he is right and you are wrong. You have got to get out of the way and let him come in. Once He comes in, He will do the heavy work of transforming your life. Sometimes there is sin in our lives that we aren’t even aware of. And when God brings it to light, he wants us to smooth out those rough pathways to our hearts. He wants us to straighten up the way for his presence into our lives. This involves changing our minds about the way we are doing things. Ultimately, you and I must surrender to the will of God in our lives. We have got to go along with the Master’s design for our life. The promise is that God’s glory will be reveled in us. We will see God in our lives today and will see him face to face in eternity. The message of Isaiah is repent, change your mind, change direction for the Messiah is at hand. Leave the darkness and come into the light.
