Highway Construction

 February 25, 2023

Yesterday, I wrote about how God isn’t impressed with status or titles, but chooses to give the Word of God to ordinary people in out of the way places. The content of that Word however, I didn’t explain. That’s tonight’s task. Here’s the message God gave to John in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” —Luke 3:4-6 

The fact that this is a quote from Isaiah 40:3-5 tells me something important: When anyone claims to have a word from the Lord, and it’s completely new, be wary. John was ushering in the Gospel age, paving the way for the Messiah and Savior of the world, but he didn’t do it with some brand new revelation. He simply restated what had been given centuries before, helping people to see the new thing God was doing in the context of what he had already done and what he had already promised. Whenever anyone comes up with a new and different revelation, there’s a pretty good chance it isn’t from God.

The message itself is clear. There’s lots of stuff standing between God and ourselves. Deliberate rebellion, guilt, shame, the pain of rejection or abuse, anger and bitterness, pride…the list goes on and on. Mountainous problems and difficulties, valleys of despair and hopelessness; it’s all there in these few words. It’s like the nurse who when doing intake for my annual checkup asked if I had any issues. “I’ve got plenty of them,” I responded, “but most aren’t anything the doctor can fix.” I don’t know too many people who aren’t in one way or another dealing with emotional, spiritual, relational mountains and valleys.

John’s word is simple: Level those mountains and fill the valleys. But how? In a word, repent. Turn away from what is standing between you and God. Learn to think differently about your issues. That’s what repentance means—to change your mind. Thinking differently about our problems usually means among other things, stop blaming everyone else for your problems. We are where we are because of choices we have made. Bad things happen to everyone; the difference in outcomes depends on whether we react or respond to life. Blaming is reactionary. Taking responsibility is, as the word implies, responsive. 

Taking responsibility is one way we level mountains and fill valleys. When we do so, we are giving God a superhighway into our lives, and he is an over-the-road trucker from heaven to our hearts.

There is a second part to John’s message. It isn’t just for me individually. He wants me to have an active part in leveling mountains and filling valleys for others so God can have a wide open road into their lives. It’s what Jesus was getting at when he said “the second Commandment is like the first.” Loving God is the first. Loving our neighbors is the second. The best way I can love my neighbor is by becoming God’s highway for them, instead of being a mountain or valley God must somehow overcome in order to have access to their hearts.

I am a bit more wordy than John, so I’ll just end by saying it the way he said it: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”