Make His Paths Straight

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Wilderness of Judea and saying, "Repent, because the Kingdom of heaven has come near! For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said, 'A voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight!"
John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, and they were baptised by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. Matthew 3:1-6

Matthew's gospel started with the early account of Jesus and the dangers associated with being born a king and then leaves all the intervening years to speculation and now we see John the Baptist on the scene to prepare the people for Jesus' ministry.

In every way John was a type of Elijah the prophet. This was a fulfillment of scripture. What is amazing is that the people flock to him and in repentance are baptised. Baptism was something the Gentiles had to do to convert to Judaism but here john was commanding them to be baptised to demonstrate repentance from sin. It was a once-off demonstration of a changed heart, not a ritual cleansing, as in some religions.

The people were ready to be confronted, to hear a need to repent. Scripture tells us they 'flocked' to him. When I think of flocking I think of a herd of cattlemen sheep flocking to food and water. An instant drives them to be refreshed.

Salvation from sin is a cleansing process. In countries where there is no hope people flock to a source of hope. In out Western culture cycles of hopelessness drive us to seek a saviour. I am watching a cycle of mental illness developing. Christ is the only hope, the only deliverer. He is dependable, He is reliable. We can hope on Him.

As Christians we are told we have the mind of Christ. We cannot have the mind of Christ and the mind of darkness. Christ is our light, He is our deliverer. We can trust in Him! Amen!

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