Let us prepare a place in our hearts for the coming Messiah. Let us level the mountains of pride and fill in the valleys of sin.
We are attached to the landscape as it is. But we can't keep it forever.
Since everything is to be dissolved in this way,
what sort of persons ought you to be
And yet, on our own we find that things are still quite bumpy. We do not have a smooth road on which the LORD can come to meet us. The equipment we need to fill these valleys and to destroy these mountains is not our own strength, although, supported by grace, we do use strength. What we need is the good news, the glad tidings that God is coming to meet us. The news itself, when it fills us, and we proclaim it, is how the landscape changes. Whereas sin might distract us from his coming like a valley in which we may be lost so can the good news keep us focused and in line of sight of the king who is coming. Just as our pride can make other things more important, as it can be a mountain in our path, so can the good news reveal what is more important than our pride, leveling the mountains that block our view.
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
"Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths."
This message of the coming of the king conveys grace to be, more and more, without spot or blemish before him. It is a message of comfort, of glad tidings, of lambs being gathered and fed. It is a message about the strength of the king and how near he will come to save us. We have the advantage of knowing even more. We know just how close he comes. The infant will be born and laid in the manger so that all eyes can finally behold the salvation of our God.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
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