April 9, 2026 Devo

As Isaiah is encouraging the people in preparation for their return to Jerusalem, he lets them know that nothing is going to stop what God has ordained. No doubt, as the rumors of going home make their rounds, a thousand questions and fears arise. How is this going to happen? What will “home” look like? How will we get what we need to rebuild once we get there? Isaiah reminds them that where God leads, He provides.
This passage is also quoted in the New Testament as a prophecy about John the Baptist. If you remember, John was not only a cousin to Jesus, he also boldly preached about the coming Messiah. John’s preaching “tilled the soil” for the work that Jesus would come to do. He stirred people’s hearts with both a hungering and a wondering about the Messiah. John challenged people’s thinking about who God was and what they should expect. His life “prepared the way” for Jesus to take the baton and usher in the unshakable Kingdom of God.
WE get to prepare the way for the Lord as well! Think about it. Every single day as ambassadors for Jesus Christ, we get to chip away at and shape the way people think about who Jesus is and what He came to do. Many people have false ideas about God. Some have encountered Christians who didn’t act very “Jesus-like.” Some have gone to churches that didn’t do a good job of representing what the true God really looks like or what He really expects. Some see God out of their own pain and disappointment in life and have come to their own false conclusions about His existence or nature.
But we get the opportunity every day to change that! Let’s let the love of Jesus Christ flow through us. Let’s let His compassion and healing touch the lives of the people all around us. Let’s let His joy and peace show through in such a way that people catch a glimpse of Him and they say, “I want some of THAT!” Let’s shed all of those attitudes and behaviors that create barriers to people seeing Christ in us. Let’s prepare the way of the Lord for our families. Let’s prepare the way of the Lord in our schools. Let’s be the path of God to people’s hearts wherever we are this week. Prepare the way for the Lord!! That’s God’s Word for you today.