Category: Advent 2021 – Preparation

Glad to see you have returned for a third day as we tackle the Advent theme of “Preparation.”

Our family always remembers the year that my young daughter Prisca opened a Christmas package to discover she had received a package of light bulbs. Her face said it all: Disappointment combined with confusion. Little did she know that the light bulbs were a vital part of my preparation for her real gift, an Easy Bake oven, a gift yet to be unwrapped.

How sad it would be to receive an Easy Bake oven without a light bulb to make it work. Or imagine finding a remote-control drone under the tree but no batteries to operate it! How does a child thank Mom and Dad for such a gift when the youngster can’t use it?

In the same way, God did more than simply create the world. He made preparations for that world and then he also made plans for supplying it with all it needed to operate. The “batteries” and “bulbs” included rain and sunshine to keep things growing.

As Psalm 147:8 says, “He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures.”

Take a walk outside today. Pretend you are Adam or Eve. How does our world today look different from the one they first saw in Eden? God’s ongoing cycle of nature tells us the Lord is still actively at work preparing for our care and nurture!

As surely as the sun comes up each morning, our God is faithful and will provide all you need. A third lesson for us on heart preparation? Praise, for his faithful on-going care.

Welcome back for the second of our Advent devotionals on this year’s theme of “Preparation.”

When I was a child, one of my older brothers loved to make model airplane kits. Every Christmas there was a new kit under the tree. The pieces came already formed. All he had to do was follow the instructions and glue the pieces together. But then he painted the sides and fine details. He added decals to make each plane look distinct and realistic.

In Genesis chapter 1, we see how much preparation God put into creating a world for us. He had no ready-made kit. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” He separated light from darkness, he divided the waters from the dry land. He designed a garden full of plants and trees. He added the sun, moon and stars. He filled the ocean with fish, the skies with birds, and the land with animals. And by the time he made man? All was ready for Adam and Eve to enjoy.

God prepared every detail and was pleased with his work. Where my brother assembled his plastic plane kits for his personal pleasure to display in his bedroom, our God created this world as a gift for his people. The Lord did not need sun and moon, or trees and animals in order to have glory. He already had glory. He prepared these things for his pleasure and for ours.

Take some time now to thank him for the world he prepared for you thousands upon thousands of years ago. You see, the second step in our soul-preparation should be to fill our hearts with gratitude.

With Christmas less than a month away, it is time to begin another series of Advent devotionals designed to prepare our hearts for the arrival of the infant in Bethlehem.

Advent marks a season of self-examination and soul preparation, and thus the theme for this year is “Preparation.” Over the next weeks, we will look at how God carefully assembled a world for us, how Jesus is active right now preparing a place for us in heaven, and along the way, what our role is in getting ready for Christ’s return.

How would you feel if you walked into the throne room of Buckingham Palace? How would you react? What major decisions have been made in that place by former monarchs? How have those decisions impacted human history?

Psalm 103:19 says “The Lord has prepared the heavens as his throne; from there he rules over everything.”

Have you ever considered that God could have made his throne on Earth where we could see him seated there each day? However, seeing is not the same as believing. Sometimes, observing the same object day after day causes our eyes to glaze over. We take it for granted. We assume it will always be there. We can ignore its significance.

Walk outside today. Look up at the sky as it stretches from one side of the earth to the other. Thick clouds only add to the pageantry. You are seeing God’s throne. It is immense. It is beyond our reach. God prepared that throne for himself and surrounded it with heavenly beings. Every person on earth stands below and must feel small by comparison.

If God spent time preparing this world for us, then we must also ready ourselves to enter his world. The first step in our own “preparation” for Christmas begins with humility, recognizing the greatness of our God.

Return tomorrow to learn more about our newest theme!