Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.
And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple;
and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, 
behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” --Isaiah 57:14 (ESV)

Obstructions of the Heart. 

Sounds like something from a medical manual, doesn’t it?

Yet, removing obstructions of the heart was an important part of getting ready for Jesus’ arrival on the scene at the beginning of His appearance as Messiah and Lord.

Isaiah said it. Malachi said it. Now John, known as the Baptist, said it yet again.

The metaphor comes from road building. The forging or building of roads was important throughout history to make tr…