"Let every heart, prepare Him room."
I wonder how many times these words have been sung? How many times have they been written about? And yet I wonder ...
Have I truly prepared my heart?
Somewhere in the month of October, God began to stir in me the need to prepare my heart to be prepared for the Advent.
To 'prepare', according to dictionary.com is “to put in proper condition or readiness; to get ready by proper assembling”.
"Prepare the way for the Lord's coming! Clear the road for him!"
(Matthew 3:3b, NLT)
(Matthew 3:3b, NLT)
Preparation, in this instance, means to clear the way. I have been trying to clear the way by setting time aside each day to think about Christmas and Christmas carols and familiar words.
Preparation takes time and effort and energy. Preparation takes sacrifice.
Zechariah was told about the birth of his son, John the Baptist, by an angel. The angel said,
“He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly." (Luke 1:17, NLT)
He comes alongside of us and enables us to prepare our hearts. It is all by His doing. He makes us ready, prepared, for the Lord. For the day of His coming.
All these days of listening to Christmas music, reading Scriptures telling of the story of His birth - all of it, this entire time ...
He Himself is preparing us to prepare for Him.
Seeing as He does all things well, our hearts can rest assured, we have been prepared. And we will sing, prepared …
"Joy to the World, the Lord has come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing."
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing."
In His Love,
Joanne
Photo by Artyom Kulikov on Unsplash
Woman to Woman Ministries
Jenifer Metzger
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Bible Journaling Ministries
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A Heart for Your Home
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Jenifer Metzger
A Delightful Glow
Coupons and Freebies Mom
Newly Us
As For Me and My Homestead
Breakthrough Homeschooling
Rachael Gilbert
Skill Trek
Lesa Dale
Bible Journaling Ministries
Days & Thoughts
A Heart for Your Home
Shari A. Miller, Living to Leave a Legacy
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This is so true! I'm not sure if I'm doing enough to prepare for him!
ReplyDeleteLesa, I cannot even explain how I have felt compelled to prepare my heart this year. May we allow Him to clear the way and make room for Him. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteI love the advent calendar that I do with my kids. It starts with God, and works through the major and minor prophets and some other people from the old testament, showing how God's plan was already in motion from the beginning. How all of time was preparing for Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lovely way for all of your hearts to be prepared. So important for our kids to learn this as well.
ReplyDelete