Preparing the Way of the Lord

  "The voice of one crying out in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low." [Luke, quoting Isaiah]

I used to wonder why we wanted to fill in the valley and lower the mountains and hills until I discovered the Roman custom of preparing the way of conquering generals and heroes.  When men went off to war, to conquer new lands for the kingdom of Rome, they took captives as slaves, bringing them back to Rome with great ceremony and fanfare.  Before the triumphant procession into the city could occur, however, slaves were sent out to "prepare the way" for the conquering hero. 

Rough roads were  filled in and made smooth for the wheels of the chariot; it would not do to have the new hero topple out of an overturned chariot.  Any obstacle in the road would be removed.  The hero was to ride in on a wave of triumph and cheers -- the procession could not be stopped to remove roadblocks, stones, animals, etc. 

In the case of the coming of the Lord, we are dealing in spiritual realities.  The "low places" and the roadblocks are much more serious and more difficult to smooth out and/or remove.  There are things in our lives which block the arrival of Jesus Christ in our hearts -- "valleys" of despair or of darkness, and "roadblocks" of coveted sin that are more precious to us than the light.

John puts it this way:  He came into His own, but his own did not receive Him....The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

In preparing for Christmas, we see a world within and without that is so full of darkness, it is about to disintegrate.  Our own lives have places that have not yet been conquered by Jesus Christ, because we are holding on so tightly to sin.  And the world in general begins now to frighten even very small children.  The darkness seems to be advancing rapidly, overtaking every land and culture.

Preparing the way of the Lord this year means removing whatever obstacles prevent His coming more fully into our hearts and lives.  As for the world at large, we can only pray for conversion.