If you knew that the Messiah was coming, how would you go about preparing the way of the LORD? I’m not sure I would have an answer for that. But we do get to see how John did. He first and foremost called people to repent.
Why repentance?
I could go on about repentance. It seems to have died in today’s times. Even in the church it’s ‘keep your sin and serve Him.’ Somehow it doesn’t work that way.
But today perhaps I’m a little more tender towards this. I woke up this morning with all sorts of ungodly thoughts in my mind. After about an hour, I spent the second hour repenting and going against those thoughts and imaginations.
It leads me to dwell on the issue of repentance. Why repentance to prepare the way of the Lord?
First of all the nearer we get to God, the more our repentance, because we come closer to the holiness and righteousness of God. Repentance is the natural response to nearing holiness.
But secondly is that repentance is the path to God softening our hearts and making them more tender to Him. Sin always hardens our hearts. Repentance softens them and opens our heart to receive the things of God.
If we want to be open to the things of God, we need a soft, tender and prepared heart. If we want to find justification for our actions and not be positioned to receive from God, we can stay in our sin.
Lately sin has abounded in my heart. In anger, frustration, bitterness, and more. Navigating difficult situations that are ongoing has been a mystery to me. Yet I have felt a hardening of my heart. And with that comes less a sense of the presence of god. I want His presence back in my life. His Presence is a beautiful thing.
At the end of the day repentance is a great gift for those in Christ.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
John was right. The best way to prepare our hearts and to receive from God is through repentance.
