Prepare the Way of the Lord

....A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level and the rough place a plain.  And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together...  Isaiah 40:1-11

Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight...and there, John preached repentance... Mark 1:1-8

Sin causes us homesickness for heaven:  tight turns, hills and dales make the drive nauseating.  Jesus, the Way, has changed the path.  He is now the super highway (straight and level) to righteousness (being as we should) and heaven.  Repentance is the entrance ramp.

John preached repentance.  "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near," he says in Matthew 3:2.  Repentance in Greek is metanoia, which means "change your mind."  Repentance is our off ramp.

Meta - less close, less intimate with; against

Noia - your mind, your way of thinking and understanding.

True repentance, Tim Keller says begins when these end:

1) white washing (it's not so bad)

2) blaming

3) self-pity (sorry about getting caught/consequence)

4) self-flagellation (punishing myself to avoid criticism by others)

It begins when I come into agreement with God and, through Christ, walk a different path - the one he prepared for me to follow him.  This path is not without challenge and will be filled with great meaning through the developing presence of heaven.  That's what I want - more of heaven!

Amen!

Make it so!