Road construction in the ancient world was no easy task. Without the modern conveniences of bulldozers and steamrollers, rock, trees, and stumps took years if not decades to remove. Isaiah's paving work described in 40:1-11, a highway through the desert, probably sounded like a wish dream to the people who heard his cries. God was involved in a larger plan: a redemptive highway project to bring peace and comfort to God's people.
Perhaps this is why the first believers in the early church chose to call themselves, "The Way." Their lives were the paving stones along the way to take Christ's love into the spiritual desert of the Greco-Roman world. They carried out Isaiah's good news and became the heralds of a new pathway to life.
Interesting thought. Does that mean that some of our churches today are like those highway workers that you see leaning on their shovels watching the traffic go by? Seriously though, I think the analogy is a good one. Building a path requires our efforts. Becoming a paving stone is difficult. You will be stepped on, run over, and abused while upholding your part of the path. But on the otherhand, you provide a solid foothold for others to make their way to God. Interesting indeed.
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