Prepare The Way

Prepare The Way

Luke 3:1 6

How do you sort your mail ?

Many times we have those days when we are really busy,and we get over

whelmed with large quantities of mail. Then we have to sit down and sort this mail out, and because we are so busy we go through and throw out what we think is junk mail or mail that is just marked fourth class and we think that it isn’t important

Now I want you to think for a moment, if this is what you do with some of your mail, then this means that you haven’t even opened it up, and if you haven’t opened it up then how do you know if you have won something?

Maybe you just won the Readers Digest Sweepstakes. But you’ll never know because you never opened it up. Many times we do the same thing with our spiritual mail,"God’s Word". We treat it like fourth class mail, and if we don’t open it up and read it ,how would you know if there was something inside special for you.

Well you know what if you open it up and really read it with an open mind, heart, and soul and believe what is in God’s Word and except it "Geuss what, you have just become a winner and your winnings are out of this world.

Luke 3:1 6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the

desert.

He went into all the country around the Jordon, preaching a baptism of repen tance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet : "A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation."

The first two verses in this third chapter of Luke, Luke shares with us the date and the officials at this time. Here we are in the time period of around A.D. 26 or 27. Tiberius Caesar is the Emporer, Pontius Pilate was governor and then theren were the tetrarchs (which were rulers of some of the areas around Judea). This was also during the priesthood of Annas and his son in law Caiaphas.

In those days it was customary for the people to prepare themselves for the coming of a king.

They would improve the roads, fill in the ditches and smooth the hills so the king wouldn’t have to go down to the river bed and back up over the mountains. A more level highway provided the king with a more comfortable trip.

But what John was telling them was that a GREAT KING is coming and they need to get their personal lives straightened up and to clear out all obstacles in their life so that the coming Lord would have a smooth entry.

Get rid of their mountain of pride or maybe your valley of jealousy. I believe sometimes it’s not the road thats crooked or rough,but it’s the person that is walking it.

Today all over the world people need to do this. I’m talking Chistians and none Chritians. People need to start repenting for their sins.People now a days believe the craziest things, some believe if your a good person you’ll go to heaven,or they think they can sin then ask for forgiveness each time they sin,or they say I pay my tithes every week .

Let me tell you something you can’t by your way into heaven. The price has already been paid for you and your sins ,or this is the best one of them all they’ll say to you " I go to church every sunday and I have been since I was a child ".

Well let me tell you something church, going to church every sunday doesn’t make you any more a christian, then taking a wheel barrel an putting it in a garage makes it an automoble, if you got a garage that will do that let me know, because I have a hardly used wheel barrel at home and I’m in need of a second vehical.

It’s great that you go to church every sunday but it’s nothing unless you have repented and asked the Lord for forgiveness.

True repentance will bring a behavior change in any person.Let me share a little story with you.There once were two pastors talking and the one pastor was telling the story of having counseled a man who was falling out of love with his wife.