SUNDAY, MAY 10
Scripture: Mark 1:1-3

Mark 1:1-3 says, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” How straight is the path of the Lord? When America was attacked on 9/11/2001, there were two national preachers who both said the same thing. Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell said the attack was the judgment of God. We can tell how straight the way of the Lord is by determining how many people in America understood and agreed with Fallwell and Robertson’s comments. How many disagreed with it? There was such an outcry against them, they were driven into silence. That shows us that the way of the Lord is not prepared at all. The way of the Lord is not straight. Most do not understand the judgment of God. Many people do not want to understand it, they do not want to hear it and they do not believe it. And why do people not believe it? The church does not believe in judgment because Scripture is taken out of context in pulpits across the nation. Judgment is a harder pill to swallow than mercy, and difficult messages do not fill seats or coffers. Most of America’s churches are tragically unacquainted with the way of the Lord. Jeremiah thought those without the way of the Lord were poor and foolish. Great men know the way of the Lord and know the judgment of their God. John the Baptist walked a hard path, but he prepared the way of the Lord. Will we do the same?