pick up stones for Christmas

Monday December 26th, Isaiah 62: 10 Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations. 11 The LORD has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’” 12 They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted. Prepare the way and clean up the path by picking up the obstacles in the way of the Lord. These are not obstacles in the way of the Lord getting to you, but obstacles in the way of you responding to the love of God. When a king would visit a city of old it was time for a public works project. Fix up the roads, remove the obstacles and clean up the messes. Now that the Lord is coming to us, we too are called to do more or less the same thing in our lives. All too often the obstacle to be removed is our insistence on what others must do. All too often the obstacles to be removed are our prejudices that come in the form of law, not gospel. So reach into your heart and start with forgiveness and prayers of thankfulness. From there, the Lord will show you the way. Wake up!! Make straight the paths of the Lord and then dance to the sound of grace that fills the air.