“The voice of one calling out, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” (Isaiah 40:3 NASB)
John the Baptist said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:23 ESV)
What is a “wilderness”? How is it being used here? Literally
speaking, it is a neglected or abandoned area of a garden or town. It is a
wasteland, a desert, the wilds. It is an unused area of land that has become
barren or overgrown. And waste is what is unused, unwanted, discarded. And wild
is undisciplined, unruly, and disorderly. And from a spiritual perspective this
could be speaking of those who are living in sin and for self, and who are
wasting away their lives on sinful pleasures, and not in pursuit of God.
So this is speaking of a place (position, situation) of
spiritual depravity and vacancy. This is a place of wandering from God and from
his divine will and purpose for our lives where people just live for themselves
and for what they want out of life, without regard for what God has planned for
their lives. They neglect the things of God to go after the things of the
flesh. So their lives are wasted on the sinful pleasures that this world has to
offer them. And they are in great need of faith in Jesus Christ and of changed
hearts.
So, if you were to clear the way for the Lord in this
wilderness, how would you go about it? What is needed? What is necessary? And
what is required of God? If your house was in total disarray, what would be
needed to make it straight? To make it not messy and out of order? To make it
clean and tidy? It might require throwing out a bunch of trash, right? Putting
things in their proper places, cleaning away all the filth. Well, spiritually
speaking, that is what has to happen in our lives, too, to make way for Jesus
in our lives.
But this is not something that we do in our own flesh, of
our own thinking and reasoning, in our own power and strength, hoping to be
good enough to please God. We can never be good enough in our own flesh. We
must choose to let go of our fleshly lives, and surrender our lives to Jesus
Christ to follow him in his ways, to die to sin, and to obey his commands, by
his grace. We must choose to throw out the trash (to die to sin) and to now
have everything clean (clean hearts and minds and actions, empowered by God).
For the straight way is the way of life which is unmixed with
the world of sin, which is upright, honest, faithful, morally pure, decent,
righteous, and obedient to God and to his commands, in practice. And this is
the way that we should be teaching others, too, as the way of salvation from
sin and eternal life with God. For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that
cross, and he was resurrected from the dead, so that by faith in him we will
now die to sin and walk (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord’s commands.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Seek the Lord
Based off Isaiah 55
Musical Instrumentation by Mark
Bradley
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
“Come to Me all you
who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and
eat what’s good today,
And your soul will
delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and
you will live.
I have made an
eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of
the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while
He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked
forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the
Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons
him.
“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My
ways,”
declares the Lord,
our God.
“My word that goes
out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return
to Me unfulfilled.
My word will
accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal
I intend.
You will go in joy
and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will
burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees
clap their hands.”
Crying Out in The
Wilderness
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