Prepare Him Room

 By: Joanne Viola

 

I wonder how many times we will hear the familiar words this month: “Let every heart, prepare Him room.”

And yet I wonder…..

Have I truly prepared Him room? Have you?

As of today, Christmas is days away. Even with knowing Christmas would arrive quickly and in a flurry of activity, I am still not ready.

So truth be known … I am not done with the preparations.

To prepare, according to dictionary.com is “to put in proper condition or readiness; to get ready by proper assembling”.

My thoughts turn to a voice:

“… shouting in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!”
(Matthew 3:3, NLT)

Preparation, in this instance, was to clear the way. All month, I have been trying to clear the way by setting time aside each day to think about Christmas, Christmas songs, and familiar words.

Preparation takes time and effort and energy. Preparation takes sacrifice.

And yet, in a fresh and simple way … I have never felt more ready, more prepared.

Zechariah was told about the birth of his son, John the Baptist, by an angel. The angel said,

“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous –
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
(Luke 1:17, NIV)

The tears begin to roll.

How had I ever missed the words? We cannot prepare ourselves by ourselves. We need outside help.

He comes alongside of us and enables us to prepare our hearts.The preparation of our hearts 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, and reading Scriptures telling the story of His birth. The 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.”

 

Reflection:
What are you doing to prepare your heart for the Lord?

 

Image by Bruno from Pixabay