Gospel Reflections #645: God is calling us to always turn our hearts to Him

Mark 1:3 "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

These are the words John the Baptist cried out in the wilderness.

John the Baptist was preaching a baptism of repentance that leads to the forgiveness of sins.

A baptism of repentance is not a kind of penance to obtain forgiveness of sins, but a turning to God when we have truly accepted who He is and how sinful we human beings are.

We seem to change direction on our own, but in fact there is God's guidance and support.

To prepare the way of the Lord is like receiving oil from God, that is, to make sure that each one of us receives what God gives us and takes it into our cells and makes it a part of us.

We are to make sure that there are no obstacles in our path with God, and if there are, we are to ask God to remove them.

Obstacles in our path with God can be our own thoughts, fears and worries, the world's values and trends, and anything else.

God will change the proportion of obstacles in our hearts if we look to Him and not to the world, people or ourselves. Of course, if we are truly willing to do so.

It is not by our own strength that we make the Lord's path straight, but by turning our hearts to God, He will prepare the way for us to the Lord.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.