Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. Luke 3:5,6
Our text should hang as a motto on the office wall of every highway construction company in the land. Our text, with its description of the way to build highways, is very accurate, despite being more than two thousand years old. John the Baptist was quoting the prophet Isaiah, who wrote these words some seven centuries before Christ was born. And still they are accurate, a very simple and complete description of the four primary steps to building highways. I pointed this out one time to my father, who spent much of his life in the construction business, and he agreed. To build a road, you need to knock down the high places, fill in the low places, remove the sharp bends and curves, and smooth out the surface. So how did Isaiah, and later John the Baptist, get to know so much about highway construction? They didn’t really build roads like that back in their time. It is only in the past few decades that construction work has taken these four steps to near perfection. The more closely these four steps are followed, the better the road. We have in our text an example of the great wisdom that is found in the Word of God, eternal and timeless, and always true and reliable.
If the Bible is so reliable when it comes to describing how to build roads, what other useful advice and direction does it contain? To begin, it is the source of all spiritual wisdom and guidance. It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:16,17). The Scriptures are the foundation for everything that we are and do as Christians. That applies to such great topics as our knowledge of God and His Son, our understanding of the principles of right and wrong, our grasp of the duties, responsibilities, and privileges of those who are children of God. The Bible warns us of the wiles of the devil, of the deceitfulness of riches, and of the perils of the unbridled tongue. The Bible teaches us how to behave ourselves in all situations, how to love and support our brothers and sisters in Christ, and how to preach the Gospel. We are left lacking in nothing in our spiritual life if we read and follow the Scriptures.
But just as our text relates how to build highways, the Bible also contains information and instruction on many important topics. It clearly refutes the theory of evolution, for example. And it makes plain that the world will not be destroyed by a nuclear holocaust or by global warming. We can safely and confidently take from the Scriptures advice on how to deal with all sorts of people and situations, how to manage our money, and how to conduct our family life.
What a Book! We have barely scratched the surface of all the wisdom and instruction that it contains. – Jim MacIntosh