By Patsy Cameneti

The Romans were the first people to build highways. They would make highways to the places that they wanted to conquer. The same principle is seen in Isaiah 40:3–5.

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Our purpose as the Body of Christ is to prepare a road for the return of Jesus, just as John the Baptist prepared the way for His first coming. Luke 1:17 says that John the Baptist went before Jesus in the spirit of Elijah. In First Kings 19:15–16, God gives Elijah three tasks to perform. I believe the following three tasks illustrate part of what we must do today to prepare a way for the Lord.

One, Elijah was to anoint Elisha as a prophet. Elisha represents ministry and ministers, people who have a call upon their life. But ministers alone are not enough to prepare a way for Jesus to come back. They have their part, but there are two other parts.

Two, Elijah was to anoint Hazael as king over Syria. The anointing of Hazael signifies our need to pray for those in authority (1 Tim. 2:1–4). We must pray for people of influence, so they can do supernatural things. They don’t have to be holy like Elijah; they just have to be in a place of influence where God can use them.

Three, Elijah was to appoint Jehu as king of Israel. The anointing of Jehu represents our need to pray for the Body of Christ—especially in America—to lay aside ungodliness and live as Christians. And that must happen in our own lives as well.

Jehu wasn’t in the king’s lineage. He was just “one of the brethren.” But God used him. The kings of Israel and Judah had allowed the Israelites to worship false gods, so God raised up Jehu as king in their place. Under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, Jehu killed the ungodly leaders of God’s people, including Jezebel. Remember her? She was on assignment from hell to infiltrate the people of God with Baal worship.

Because of God’s great love for the world, He cleansed Israel of Baal worship. He made sure that a godly remnant was preserved in Israel so that Jesus could come through them to be our Savior.

What does this have to do with us? The Body of Christ today is the vehicle through which God can show Himself as Who He is. Matthew 5:13 says, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” I believe that the Holy Ghost is restoring the Church’s “saltiness.” He is getting the people of God ready to see their God. And He is enabling the Church to be a restraining force against the spirit of antichrist that is at work in the world.

An anointing is going to permeate the Church. We’re going to love God and hate sin. And if other members of the Body of Christ are suffering because of sin, we have no right to condemn them. We have an obligation and a responsibility to pray for them.

And so our lives, especially because of the place and time we live in right now, hold amazing purpose! Our voice prepares the way of the Lord in the same way that John the Baptist went before Jesus and made a road for Him. We hasten the Lord’s return by making a way for Him to come (2 Peter 3:11–12).

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