Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands (Deuteronomy 8:2).

In Deuteronomy, a book that the Jewish Bible simply calls Devarim (meaning words), Moses gives a farewell address to the people who will enter into the Promised Land.  Moses will not be allowed to enter and will die in Moab, yet he reminisces about the goodness of God and His promises for Israel’s future. 

A central theme of Deuteronomy is encouragement to remember and not to forget.  While that might seem like the same encouragement coming and going, there is an important distinction which we see in Chapter 8.  In Deut 8:2, Israel was to remember that God faithfully led them in the desert for 40 years; their clothes never wore out; neither did their sandals; they had food to eat; and water to drink.  Day after day for 40 years God was faithful.  Every day for 40 years, God ensured they would have no doubt His hand had delivered them.  He was continually delivering them.  Forty years… the full lifetime of everyone under the age of 40!  God had proven His faithfulness every day of their lives.  This was grace in the desert.

But grace in the desert had a purpose (verse 2): to humble them and test their hearts so they would be prepared to keep His commands…even as they experienced prosperity.  In verse 18, God reminds them neither grace nor wealth are earned.  Both are a gift from the hand of God.

They weren’t to remember the testing per se but only what God proved by it: He is faithful and He is good!

Remember God’s role, but the other point of the message was “Don’t forget.”  This was their responsibility.  Don’t forget to obey God because it has consequences.  In verse 19, the mounting case of “pride goes before the fall” warns of a dramatic conclusion: they would be destroyed.  Disobedience has consequences.

God did His part for 40 years demonstrating His faithfulness— a fact worth remembering!  But entering a land of promise and temptation, wealth and idolatry, obedience and destruction, they were not to forget their role:  to observe the commands of the Lord, walk in His ways, and revere Him (verse6).

Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day (Deuteronomy 8:11).

Are you more likely to remember the tests over what God proved by them?

Have you remembered that every blessing is a gift from God?

Is there anything you’re forgetting?

Have you ever had a mountaintop moment—a time when you knew God’s presence and His power in your midst?    What was your response: joy, awe, excitement…fear? 

Many people in the Bible have responded with holy fear when they encountered God because they suddenly realized how sinful they were.  Isaiah famously said, “Woe to me…I am ruined!” in Isaiah 6:5.  In Luke 5:8, Simon Peter said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 

The closer we get to God, the more we see ourselves in our sinful state.  In Exodus 19 and 20, Israel was told to be prepared to meet their God.  They had prior warning (Exodus 19:9).  Couldn’t they have been totally prepared?  They had two days to wash their clothes—and they did.  They set up barricades to keep themselves from touching the mountain in Sinai’s desert.  Done.  Check!

When the Lord descended upon Mt. Sinai in fire and billowing smoke, the mountain trembled.  The people trembled.  They received the Law with fear and trembling.  Faced with a holy God and His Law, they were afraid for their lives, so they told Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen.  But do not have God speak to us or we will die” (Exodus 20:19).

 Moses was one of them.  By comparison with an equal, they weren’t quite so afraid…or appalled at how sinful they were.  Have you ever had a white shirt that once you wore it, no matter how effective the laundry method, strong the detergent, how much bleach you used, that shirt was never brilliant white again?  Hanging amongst many not-so-white-anymore shirts, one shirt doesn’t look so bad, but buy a new one, hang it on a hanger, and all the old shirts dim by comparison.

Jesus is God’s equal and yet He was one of us.  On a high mountain (Matthew 17:1-6 and Mark 9:2-8), Jesus was transfigured, visibly holy and brilliant.  The disciples heard God speak and they were terrified.  When they lifted their eyes, no one was there…except Jesus. 

Are we terrified at our sinfulness?

Do we treat Jesus as a mere equal?

Let us consider Jesus’ holiness and ask, “How might I prepare myself to meet Him in all His glory?”

Why do musicians create Best Of compilations?  Why do sports franchises have a Hall of Fame?  Why does the New York Times have a Best Seller list?  All of these highlight the best of their class.  Best songs.  Best athletes.  Best books.

If the Bible were to have a “Best Of” series of Hall of Fame moments, it might be about the desert and recount times when the nation of Israel had seen God at work in powerful ways!  In many respects, today’s passage ( Acts 7:30-51 ) recounts a “Best Of” Israel’s history.  But in contrast to God’s Best, too often Israel displayed tabloid behavior.  Consider this Best and Worst list:

Best Director:  God, for hearing Israel’s cries for deliverance and faithfully saving them from slavery (Acts 7: 34).

Best Supporting Actor:  Moses, for seeing the burning bush, responding in faith and leading Israel out of Egypt.  He too was faithful (v 36).

Worst: The people of Israel take it all for granted. They complain to God and then reject Moses, questioning in verse 35, “’Who made you ruler and judge?”  (A: God, that’s who).

Best Writing:  God gives the Law, writing it on two tablets of stone with His finger.  Moses was in the desert, climbed a mountain, met with God, and “received living words to pass on to us” (v 37-38).  Surely it was an Oscar-worthy moment that Charlton Heston couldn’t do justice to—a mountain top moment for Israel!  God met with Moses and gave them the Law.

Worst:  What did the Israelites do?  They rejected Moses and the Law.  To go from bad to worse, in verses 39-41, they rejected God too by making their own god.

Best Set Design:  God and Moses for the Tabernacle, and God and Solomon for the Temple (verses 42-47).

Worst:  Israel turned their back on God and rejected His presence among them (v 51).

It’s a Best and Worst of times for sure.  Before we’re too quick to judge however, don’t we do the very same things?

Do we see the ways God has given us His very best and receive it with thanksgiving?  Or do we grumble and complain and reject His presence in our lives?

As you continue to Prepare the Way, take a moment to thank God for His deliverance through Jesus Christ.  In spite of our worst performance, God still offers us redemption in Christ: God’s “Best Of” presence for your life.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”

John 1:19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'” 24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Who are you and what are you doing?

Imagine how John the Baptist felt.  Commissioned to the desert, set apart as the forerunner of Jesus Christ, John had a job to do: Prepare the way for the LORD.  Yet, people wanted to know about John instead.  Are you the Christ?  Are you Elijah?  Are you the Prophet?  The priests and Levites simply wouldn’t take “No” for an answer.

But John had a vision of what it meant to prepare the way.  

In response to the game of twenty questions, he points to the coming Messiah and says in effect:

• It’s not about me!
• I am just a messenger.  The one you should be concerned about is the Lord.  He’s coming!  I’ve got a work project underway to make a level path…since there are no such things as “down-and-dirty” Vegas places where you sin and it stays there; no room for mountains of pride or greed; and no road bumps of law-breaking, envy, or gossip!  I’m just a contractor, building a suitable highway for our God!
• I baptize with water for repentance, but the one you should be concerned about is the Lord.  Water baptism is nothing compared to His baptizing with fire and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:1-12).  His winnowing fork will judge our hearts when He comes.  It’s urgent!  Repent!
• You’re asking me a bunch of questions, but consider this instead: the Kingdom of heaven is near.  There is One in your midst but you don’t even see Him.  He’s holy and the One you should be concerned about!   Repent!

John knew he was looking for the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 3:29) and that Job One was: Prepare the Way.

As we prepare the way for the Lord during Lent, let’s ask ourselves:

In my life, is Job One all about Him…or all about me?

Do I take sin and judgment seriously?

Do I see the urgency of repentance?

If He were to return today, would He find a level path straight to my heart…or a way blocked by obstacles of pride, selfishness, greed, anger, or jealousy?

John would say, “Prepare the Way.”  Repent today.  The Kingdom of heaven is near.

Today is Ash Wednesday, traditionally a time when Mardi Gras festivities are over and minds of people turn to more serious thoughts.  The season of Lent officially begins.  For the next forty days (not including Sundays which are excluded from the observance for the Sabbath), we will look inward and see the many reasons we should Prepare the Way for the LORD.  The theme for our series is Prepare the Way—highlighted in today’s Scripture verse:

Isaiah 40:3 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

What is it about the wilderness, the desert, making it a place to begin preparing the way for the LORD?  John the Baptist (who applies these verses above to himself) was in the Judean desert preaching repentance.  In the desert, there is ample time for self-reflection.  There are no fields of grain or streams of water.  One hungers and thirsts and can be overwhelmed by the heat.  In so many of our lives, we’re entertaining ourselves and enjoying a perpetual Mardi Gras that we don’t know what those in impoverished areas of the world know:  the desert points to our dependence on God.

For the Israelites, the desert held special meaning.  For it was in the desert that Moses saw the burning bush and received God’s call to deliver Israel from Egypt.  It was in the desert that Moses climbed Mt. Sinai and received the Law to guide the chosen people.  It was in the desert that the unfaithful ones died (those who refused to trust God’s faithfulness to bring them safely into the Promised Land as recorded in Numbers 14:29-30).  The desert was a place of purification and testing.

For us, the desert is a place to ask ourselves whether we depend on God—whether we live our lives as though God exists or whether we treat Him like an inflatable passenger propped up when convenient so we can take the HOV lanes of life.  The LORD led the Israelites through the desert for forty years to humble them and to test what was in their hearts. 

“During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out,  nor did the sandals on your feet… I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.”  Deuteronomy 29:5-6

Are you ready to encounter the desert and to know the faithfulness of our God?