Read

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 places a plain.” (Isa. 40:3–4)

Reflect

It was said of Queen Elizabeth II that she must have thought the whole world smelled of fresh paint. When a monarch comes to visit, people prepare. The crack in the sidewalk that pedestrians have stumbled over for years will be smoothed and the potholes filled. It’s not that the queen had more trouble walking than commoners or that a Rolls-Royce couldn’t handle potholes. Rather, preparation is a way to show honor.

In the Gospels, we learn that the messenger prophesied by Isaiah, sent by God to prepare the way for the King of kings, was John the Baptist. John’s preparation didn’t involve any of the external sprucing up one would expect for a monarch’s visit. Instead, he preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People who heard him were moved to confess their sins and be baptized. His message prepared their hearts, not their outward appearances.

When a monarch comes to visit, people prepare. Preparation is a way to show honor.

The season of Advent helps us remember that not only has the Messiah come but he will come again. In his last recorded words, Jesus said, “Surely I am coming soon” (Rev. 22:20). We don’t know the day or the hour, but we need to be prepared. So how should we prepare ourselves for Christ’s return?

John the Baptist’s call to repentance and forgiveness is still valid today as we wait for Jesus’s second coming: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). Yet repentance isn’t easy. C. S. Lewis writes,

Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realising that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor . . . is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means . . . undergoing a kind of death.

Repentance may be a kind of death, but it leads us to new life. The heart of the Christian faith isn’t making ourselves look better on the outside but having God truly cleanse our hearts.

All the fresh paint in the world won’t make us ready for Jesus. We’ll only be ready when we acknowledge ourselves as sinners in need of the Savior. As one hymn puts it,

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
true belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you nigh.

Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream;
all the fitness He requireth
is to feel your need of Him.

Do you feel your need for Jesus? He’s ready and willing to save all who put their trust in him. Come, Lord Jesus!

Respond

Ask the Lord to search your heart. Is there sin in your life that makes you hope Christ will delay his return? What would repentance from this sin look like? Pray that God would once again make straight the way for his Son to appear, bringing the fullness of his kingdom.