We are living right now in a moment IDENTICAL to what the prophet Isaiah predicted. IDENTICAL to what John the Baptist experienced. And IDENTICAL to what countless other Christians have stared down for millennia.
For context, let’s step back in time.
As prophesied in Isaiah 40:3-5, God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus. His mission was to tell people their lives could be made right by the Son of God who does things too big for man.
John taught the people to:
- Expect Jesus to arrive in glory.
- Admit their need for redemption.
- Repent of their sinful thoughts and ways.
- Believe, love, and obey Jesus when he arrives.
The significance that was to come is powerfully expressed in Luke 3:5:
“Every valley must be filled up, every hill and mountain leveled off. The winding roads must be made straight, and the rough paths made smooth.” Luke 3:5 (Emphasis mine.)
The timeless truth from this verse can be applied to us TODAY. We do that by asking ourselves what WE are doing in this pandemic to:
- Fill our valleys.
- Level our mountains.
- Straighten our crooked roads.
- Smooth our rough characteristics.
VALLEYS FILLED & MOUNTAINS LEVELED
Our repentance fills the valleys and levels the mountains to make the way for Jesus.
The valleys represent our apathy and arrogance. The mountains are anything standing in the way of Jesus—things like sin, Satan, pride, and ingratitude.
ROUGH ROADS MADE SMOOTH
The rough roads refer to our wayward drift into the dark destinations of deceit—things like untruthfulness, anger, drunkenness, and a lusting heart.
CROOKED ROADS STRAIGHTENED
The crooked roads refer to things like our blasphemy, prejudice, jealousy, judgement, covetousness, and carnality.
I ask God to help me use this pandemic pause in life to apply Luke 3:5 to my life, right now, today.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Are you filling your valleys, leveling your mountains, straightening your roads, smoothing your edges?
“Every valley must be filled up, every hill and mountain leveled off. The winding roads must be made straight, and the rough paths made smooth.” Luke 3:5
