The Highway Of Holiness

“And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.” Isaiah 35:8 NLT

The wonderful story of Christmas about God coming into the world in Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger is to awaken in us the wonder of a new birth and to reveal our need to be reborn again to be a child of God:

 “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” John 3:3‭-‬8 NLT

Without a spiritual birth, we will live as human beings seeking spiritual experiences with sinful desires. We may even worship God like Cain but our sinful nature will lead us to evil just as Cain murdered his brother Abel. The tragic Christmas story of the massacre of the children by King Herod shows us the horror of the sin of envy:

“Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.” Matthew 2:16 NLT 

We need to be born again through faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. Then our Shepherd of Love will guide us along the right paths to bring honor to God’s name. He willl renew our strength and purify our hearts so that we can have an intimate relationship with God in the kingdom of heaven here on earth:

 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 NLT

 Through the Holy Spirit we can live as the children of God - spiritual beings who are the human channels of God’s love, joy and peace. Without the Holy Spirit, we are unable to see, hear, touch, taste and smell the transforming presence of God in our daily lives. We will be tempted to turn the stones in our hearts into bread instead of feeding on the manna of God’s Word:

 “For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:2‭-‬4 NLT

It is by the Holy Spirit that we will be able read the bible with our hearts to transform our minds. We will find wisdom and not mere knowledge:

 “And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.  But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” 1 Corinthians 2:12‭-‬14 NLT

God has given us a Highway of Holiness in the wilderness of our stony hearts - when our hearts are purified and our minds are childlike. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to transform our struggles in life into stepping stones. May we grow spiritually in Advent 2020 and be empowered to love and serve others. Let us rejoice with our Emmanuel on the Highway of Holiness as we sing:

“O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!