A voice of one calling, “In the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3
Every year during the Thanksgiving preparations, I get into my car on a hurried day, turn on the radio, and hear Christmas music. The reaction is always the same, “I’m not ready to think about Christmas. It’s way too early.” This advent season of preparation catches us off guard, but it’s here and it’s time to prepare for this special event.
If you’ve ever hosted a party, a dinner or family gathering, you know that preparations are a huge part of the event. The house must be cleaned, the food prepared, the dishes out and clean, the silverware polished, and the everyday stuff put away. We are preparing for the purpose, and usually the purpose is some kind of celebration.
Christmas is just that – a celebration. It’s a birthday party celebration for Jesus where we celebrate the joy of His birth. The angels said, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.”
God took great care to prepare for the coming of His son into the world on that Christmas morn long ago. He used the most unlikely people to set the stage for his son who would come to demonstrate His love. Caesar Augustus was used to issue a decree that all would be taxed each into their own country which brought His chosen Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem from Nazareth. Add a kindly innkeeper who offered his stable, a manger filled with straw, animals, shepherds in a nearby field, angels to tell them of the birth, and three wise men guided by a star, and we know the preparations were no accident but rather the product of great preparation for a purpose. The time had come to welcome our Savior.
Likewise, as we begin the advent season we must prepare our hearts and our lives for the advent or coming of Christ. Instead of racing around and methodically going through the decorations and planning for the Christmas season, we should be preparing for the purpose of celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Ann Voskamp says, We are ready for Christmas, not when we have all the gifts, but when we are ready for Christ – when we are ready to give all of ourselves to him.
There are many things we can do to prepare for the coming of Christ in our hearts and lives, but I wonder how different Christmas could be for each of us, if we could just believe through the eyes of a child. People sometimes say that “Christmas is for children”, but Jesus came for all of us. Perhaps they mean that Christmas is best when seen through the eyes of a child because children see the world differently. They are amazed at small things in life, the things that adults seem to take for granted every day. We sometimes feel we are too old to be amazed, and we stop taking time to be amazed at a baby in a manger, who He is and why He came. Becoming as a child again is a great way to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate anew the birthday of Jesus.
During this season, if we want to prepare our hearts for Christmas, we’ve got to rediscover the joy of giving. Giving always brings more blessings to the giver than we could ever imagine. Last week, I took my car to Cactus Car Wash for a wash and clean. When I picked it up, the man asked me about the book I was listening to on my car CD player. (Yes, I still have one of those). The book was The Whistler by John Grisham, and he remarked on how much he liked the author’s books. I told him I would bring it back to him when I finished. Instead, I drove home, packed up all my other books on tape and headed back to the car wash. In my prayers that morning, I had asked God to put someone in my path who needed something I could give. The look on Jeff’s face when I walked over with my bag of gifts not only brightened my day, but it reinforced how much joy we receive from giving!
During this preparation, we could all benefit from passing the light. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Years ago Randy began the candlelight service at our church. We would begin the service in darkness, then pass the light to each one there so that when we were done, the entire church had a light. The beauty of that moment as we sang Silent Night will forever live in my memory. The light has overcome the darkness. Christmas is the perfect time to share the light of God by telling others how a babe was born to give us a purpose in life and hope after death.
This year my prayer is that we can all prepare for Christmas by becoming childlike again, rediscovering the blessing of giving, and being a shining light in this dark world. Prepare the way of the Lord! Make the preparations for a purpose!