“Prepare the way for the Lord….Make straight paths for Him” “All mankind will see God’s salvation”
(Luke 3:4, 6)
I have been to in the heat of the deserts in the Middle East; the cold of the Rocky Mountains and the
humidity of the Bayou of Louisiana. The differences made me think of the changes Jesus makes in a human soul. Those areas where water flowed is like peoples’ souls when they have Jesus. It is alive and green with growing things. The desert is like souls that do not know Jesus. It is a wasteland where nothing could survive.
That was how people’s souls were when John the Baptist began preaching. They were wastelands of hopelessness and despair. John told them to repent, have God get rid of those rocks of sin and doubt. His message about Jesus offered new life and new hope through Jesus, their Savior.
Some seven hundred years before John lived, Isaiah wrote about him. He prophesied that John would “Prepare the way for the Lord” and would “make straight paths for him.” Isaiah added that through John’s work, “All mankind will see God’s salvation.”
Without Jesus, our souls would be like the desert too. There would be no life, no hope. We need to
hear John’s message to repent. Such repentance prepares the way for Jesus with his gospel of
forgiveness. He makes our souls live and grow with faith. In Jesus we see God’s Salvation.
