WINDING PATHS
Isaiah 40:3-5,
"The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of
the Lord shall be revealed ..."
We read in Luke 3:3-6
that John the Baptist came as
"the voice of one crying in the wilderness"
to prepare the way of the Lord. Each one of the Gospel
writers confirms this--Matthew 3:1-4; Mark 1:1-2 and
John 1:23. The last verses of the Old Testament also
prophesy it and Luke 1:16-17 and 76 fulfill the
prophecy. These Scriptures explain in more detail
exactly what it means to prepare the way for the Lord--"And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of
Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just;
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
To prepare the way for
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, John had to make
the way straight. He was anointed to
"turn the hearts of the fathers
(which includes the mothers too)
to the children ..."
But the prophetic word of Malachi 4:5-6 says that it
must happen again
"before the coming of the great and terrible day of the
Lord."
We are getting close to this time. It is time to
prepare. It is time to straighten the paths.
When the hearts of
fathers and mothers are not turned to their children,
they are on a crooked path. There are many deviant paths
in this humanistic world. There are luring detours off
the straight road. They may look enticing. They may even
seem the right way, but they are often subtle
"windings"
to steer us away from God's perfect plan. Yes, this is
what the Knox version calls them,
"the
windings
are to be cut straight."
Are you on a winding
path? Sometimes you don't even realize it until you get
lost; until you wake up to find that the devil's
tempting ways are not what they seem; until your family
life is out of order and you wonder why. Perhaps,
without realizing it, you have landed up on a winding
path of independence from your husband. You are too busy
to serve him and your family. Perhaps you have got on a
crooked path of busyness--running here and there,
attending this meeting and that, getting involved with
this organization and that. You are in a whirlwind of
activity. It seems great, but where is this winding path
taking you? What will be the end result?
It's a long way off the
path God planned for you as a mother--to be nestled in
the heart of your home. And what are your children
learning? That life consists in going to this and that,
being involved in this sport and that organization and
not having time to sit around the dinner table together?
Will they ever learn the power of the home? That in the
home great things can happen. It is here they learn the
pattern to pass on to the next generation. They have
time to create, think great thoughts and bask in the joy
of home and family life.
Our children will follow
the path we take. We dare not take them down winding
paths of deception. The decisions we make and the paths
we choose will determine the course of not only our
children, but generations to come.
Keep alert for these
crooked roads and remember that we only prove the
salvation and deliverance of the Lord on the straight
path. It is only on the straight path that His glory is
revealed. He wants to show His power in your life--to
bridge the lonely valleys with His love and compassion;
to level every mountain that looks impossible in the
natural but can melt in the power and presence of His
Spirit and to cut a straight path of truth through all
the windings that criss-cross over and back through
God's straight road. Will you let Him lead you?
I love the Way's
translation of 2 Timothy 2:15, "Be
earnest ... a labourer who needs not to blush for his
work, but who drives the ploughshare of truth in a
straight furrow."
Love from
NANCY CAMPBELL
PRAYER:
"Father, I ask that you will help me to keep on your
straight path, never turning to the right or the left.
Please expose every winding path the beckons me away
from your truth." Amen."
AFFIRMATION:
I will plough a straight furrow in my life and the life
of my family.
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