The Motivation to Repent

To be a people prepared for God, we must remove every obstacle that is opposed to God.

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And here is John in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; and it echoes and it pierces the hearts of the people who are reorienting their hearts and they’re realigning their purposes, and finally, for the first time in generations, revival is coming to the land. Why? Because it was based on repentance. Repentance is the key to refreshment,

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It's the way out of those small chambers. It's the way into freedom. It's the path of freedom. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” God's word breaks in and the message is clear, “repent for the Kingdom is near.” It is a call to prepare; This is John's life mission.

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Take a look with me at Luke 3:4. “As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah. What Luke is saying is that 700 years before John showed up, God's words said this would happen. Think of that. God is fulfilling what he promised. 

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Doesn't God always fulfill what He promises? It's his unfolding plan. And Luke is saying God is fulfilling this in our time: Here it is, “as it was written in the book of the words of Isaiah the Prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness (that is shouting, proclaiming in the wilderness) prepare the way of Lord, make His path straight.”

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What does that mean? The voice of this ambassador of the Lord saying, “prepare, get things ready and make the Lord's path straight.” Here's what I think it means. I think he means remove every barrier, remove every hindrance, and clean up the “streets” so that when the royal delegation comes, that royal delegation can come straight in. “Make His path straight,” remove every obstacle; remove every hindrance; remove every barrier.

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Look at the imagery. Four different images, all serving one point. Here it is: every valley shall be one filled. Every mountain and hill shall be brought low, every crooked path shall become straight and the rough places shall become level. Every image serves one point: whatever the obstacle is in your life – you've got a divide in your life? Fill it in. You’ve got an obstacle standing in your way between you and God? Bring it down. You’ve got places in your life that are crooked and offset? Straighten it up. You’ve got areas in your life that are not level – uneven pathways? Smooth it out and look how the verse 6 ends; “so that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

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John’s Role

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John was a forerunner of the Messiah. In concert terms he would have been the opening act. He was the warm up band. He was good. But nobody really was there to see him. They wanted to see the Headliner. John, the warm up guy, would one day say, “there's one coming after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. He must increase. I must decrease.” Everything John did was to serve the cause of Messiah! 

In farming terms, there was John at the plow tilling up the soil. He's going out in front. Why? For the purpose of the seed sower. Who would come after him to sow the seed and whose name was Jesus the Christ.

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John was preparing the way, shouting, proclaiming, warming up the people to repent for the Kingdom of God is coming! The royal delegation is near! Straighten everything up, guys! You got valleys? Fill it in! You got hills? Bring them down! You got crickedness? Straighten it out! You got uneven places? Smooth it out! Why? Because you're going to see the salvation of God.

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Action step: Remove a barrier. Remove a barrier. Make this personal, What unaddressed issue is getting in the way of your untapped potential?

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The Motivation

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I'm convinced that as followers of Jesus we have the ability but we need the motivation. And the motivation should simply be this: Ephesians 5, “Christ loved us and gave Himself for us to obtain for Himself a Church in splendor, without stain, full of holiness and blamelessness.”

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“The motivation ought to be love. His love…”

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The motivation ought to be love. His love and his desire for you to be prepared to turn your heart towards Him. It is that longing of Christ, His longing to see you remove every single barrier, every single hindrance, every single obstacle out of your path, that you may be prepared as a bride in full splendor.

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Be Prepared

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To be a people prepared for God, we must remove any barrier opposed to God.

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What does it look like to be a people prepared? Well, what it looks like is to remove every obstacle, every hindrance, every barrier, fill in those valleys, bring down those mountains, straighten out those paths, smooth out those pathways so that you are ready for use for the master.

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It is not just to be prepared for some purpose or to be prepared for some occasion. It is to get things in order to be of use and of service.

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To be a people prepared for God, we must remove any barrier opposed to God.

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That's my heart for you, Church. That's what I'm praying for you. That's what I'm going to be praying all year long, that we, as a church, will be a people prepared so that the Lord God from heaven, who sees this church, would say, “this is a people who are getting prepared. Those are people who are putting things in order. That is  a people motivated because they know that the kingdom of God is near!” That's my longing for you, church!

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Take Action

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This week spend time in isolation for the purpose of preparation: “Lord, what do you want from me this year. Lord, what do you need from me this year? What path do you want me on this year? What do I need to surrender this year?” Go to the wilderness! 

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Second, Make a change. Make a change today that will make an impact on your last days for Christ – however many days those are. If your life is full of question marks, make a change today!

Finally, remove a barrier. Remove a barrier between you and God.

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