JOY to the WORLD the LORD is COME!
Are we ready for HIM to come? It’s that time again, Christmas time! Some have been
counting down for months; many are excited; and there are some who are dreading Christmas this year for one reason or another. No matter where we are in the spectrum, Christ will
come. Christmas is almost upon us, but are we ready? REALLY?
Kristin and I have had a few friends recently give birth or have announced that they are having a baby in the months to come. There is excitement about friends having babies. This excitement is good! We have also been hearing about all the work that is required to prepare for a new baby. Baby items to be purchased: diapers, strollers, car seats, and so much more. The baby’s room needs to be re-done, painted and fixed up, and sometimes even a new room needs to be built on or built in for a baby’s room. There is always LOTS of preparation for a baby, especially for a couple’s first baby.
Do we take this amount of time to prepare for the birth of Jesus, the King of the Universe?
Maybe our hearts and lives are in the wilderness and desert that Isaiah was talking about in Isaiah 40. Maybe, just maybe, we are a wilderness, a desert. What must we do to prepare for Christ’s coming? Are we talking about Christmas now or His triumphant return? Maybe it doesn’t matter because they need the same preparation. A preparation of hearts, which requires humility and submission to the Lord of the Universe, who was born as a baby at Christmas. A preparation of our heart requires heart surgery. It requires us taking our heart of flesh and exchanging it for a heart born of the spirit. It requires us to have our heart no longer oriented on our wants and desires but on the desires of Christ. Jeremiah 17:9 states, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.” Once we understand that, we can start the process of preparing our hearts for Christ this Christmas.
Kristin and I have had a few friends recently give birth or have announced that they are having a baby in the months to come. There is excitement about friends having babies. This excitement is good! We have also been hearing about all the work that is required to prepare for a new baby. Baby items to be purchased: diapers, strollers, car seats, and so much more. The baby’s room needs to be re-done, painted and fixed up, and sometimes even a new room needs to be built on or built in for a baby’s room. There is always LOTS of preparation for a baby, especially for a couple’s first baby.
Do we take this amount of time to prepare for the birth of Jesus, the King of the Universe?
Maybe our hearts and lives are in the wilderness and desert that Isaiah was talking about in Isaiah 40. Maybe, just maybe, we are a wilderness, a desert. What must we do to prepare for Christ’s coming? Are we talking about Christmas now or His triumphant return? Maybe it doesn’t matter because they need the same preparation. A preparation of hearts, which requires humility and submission to the Lord of the Universe, who was born as a baby at Christmas. A preparation of our heart requires heart surgery. It requires us taking our heart of flesh and exchanging it for a heart born of the spirit. It requires us to have our heart no longer oriented on our wants and desires but on the desires of Christ. Jeremiah 17:9 states, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.” Once we understand that, we can start the process of preparing our hearts for Christ this Christmas.
