Category: Advent Series

Tomorrow my children will be arriving to celebrate with me. I am eager to hug each grandchild. But let’s pause for another Advent devotional on “preparation.”

Have you ever received the red carpet treatment? I used to speak at conferences and retreats and schools hundreds of times each year. Sometimes the person introducing me would give me a big build up, saying what a wonderful person I was. (You can fool a few people some of the time, right?) But after I was introduced, I would often ask the people seated in the audience to all stand up. “Now raise your hands high, high in the air.” And they did. “Now take all your expectations of me off that top shelf, lean over, bend down and put them on the lowest shelf.” I didn’t want to have to live up to all the hype.

I wonder if John the Baptist ever felt the same way. In Malachi 3:1, the Lord said, “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming.”

No doubt John the Baptist did not exactly fit the expectations of the people as a forerunner of the Messiah. With his camel hair robe and leather belt, he looked more like a wild animal than a holy prophet. But that didn’t stop him from proclaiming that Jesus, someone far greater than John, would soon be coming. And Jesus lived up to every bit of hype!

The messenger of the covenant, Christ himself, was eagerly awaited by the people. They looked forward to his arrival more than we look forward to Christmas. And we know he is surely coming again. Do you anticipate his coming eagerly as they did? Are you prepared?

We are almost there! Christmas is just around the corner! Hang on for the last three of these Advent devotionals on the theme of preparation.

Most everyone reading these devotionals has attended a wedding. Many of the women have been brides, walking down the aisle, dressed in a beautiful gown. Many of the men have been grooms, standing nervously at the front of the church, awaiting the first glimpse of their bride. And some of us have been parents and friends gazing with pride as the young woman approached. I remember the inexpressible joy of seeing my daughter and daughters-in-law walk down the aisle.

My father was a pastor. He loved standing at the front of the altar and watching the bride draw near. When he came home after performing a wedding, I remember as a child asking him how the bride looked. Dad would beam and say, “She was the most beautiful bride I’veever seen.” And he said the same thing every time!

In Rev. 21:2, the apostle John tells us of a similar vision: “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully prepared, adorned for her husband.”

Her Husband is eager but he is not nervous. For thousands of years, he has anticipated this special day. He himself replaced her filthy rags (Is. 64:6) and instead offered her clothes of the finest linen, bright and clean (Rev. 19:8).

The bride could have refused to wear those clothes and opted for comfy jeans or even pjs, but instead, she chose to make herself ready for the wedding. Can you imagine the joy we will one day feel seeing our Lord waiting for us at the far end of the aisle?

Looking forward to learning about some of the other joys of having a prepared heart? Here’s another Advent thought for my faithful readers.

When I worked as an adoption agency counselor, one of my tasks was to help with post-adoption support groups. These families had prepared a home for a child but often the parents struggled when their best intentions were met with outright defiance. Nor were the parents the only ones who struggled. One night I led the support group for biological children of the parents. “What was hardest about having your adoptive sibling join your family?” I asked.

Their answers surprised me. “He tried to steal my friends.” “I had to share my bedroom.” “She took my place sitting next to Mom at the dining table.” There was real grief and sadness at being displaced.

Mt. 25:31-34 speaks of the final Day of Judgment. The Son of Man will sit on his throne and separate the people like a shepherd separating his sheep from his goats. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”

The twelve disciples argued on more than one occasion about who would get to sit next to Jesus on his right and left. But not one of us will feel displaced when our time comes. We all will enjoy the blessings God has prepared for us. We will be heirs in his kingdom! And, imagine this, we are the adoptees!

After all these days of Advent, we can finally shift our focus and look forward to some of the rewards of our preparation. Read on to see a portion of all God has prepared ahead for us!

When my husband Gene and I sold our home and moved to our retirement community, we did an immense amount of preparation. We painted walls of our house, replaced the carpet on the stairs, cleared out closets, and sorted through years of accumulated “stuff.” It was hard work and we felt exhausted.

But while we were busy at our end, the staff at the village was just as busy getting our apartment ready for our arrival. They too painted walls. Workers replaced a dark gray carpet with a lighter tone of beige. They hung curtains. The staff removed a pink, blue and gray kitchen vinyl that looked like an argyle sock and put down the simpler marble tile we had selected. An electrician moved a light switch. When we arrived, we reaped the pleasure resulting from all their work.

In John 14:2,3, Jesus explained to his bemused disciples that he was leaving, but with a purpose. He told them, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

God made an amazing world for Adam and Eve, but Jesus has prepared an even more amazing world for us after we leave this life. His promises are assured. He will come and get us. We will live with him forever!

Take a moment today and look around your living space. One day it will all be gone. Your collection of animated solar sun catchers, your massage recliner, your 4th – grade penmanship award hanging on the wall, even your Christmas stockings hung by the chimney with care. All of it will be gone. But none of it will matter if you have a place prepared for you in heaven!

In less than a week, Christmas will arrive! I love the Advent season, but we all know that it is only the precursor of Christ’s birthday celebration.

From January 1st, we can count the exact number of days until December 25th. And if we forget, mall merchants are more than happy to remind us exactly how many shopping days remain before the holiday.

Sometimes we forget how long the nation of Israel waited for its Messiah to arrive. Over thousands of years, prophets spoke of the coming King. The prophecies of Malachi closed the Old Testament canon. Four hundred years passed before an angel appeared to Zecharias, announcing the birth of John the Baptist. Six more months passed before Mary learned she would give birth to Jesus. Three decades followed before Jesus began his ministry. It must have seemed to the nation of Israel that God was taking his time about getting to his destination.

God has given plenty of warning about his plans for judgment. He is already prepared with a specific date and plan for that day. Rev. 9:15 says, “Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose.” The next verse says that those angels will lead an army of 200 million troops! Imagine! God has everything planned right down to the hour!

The Lord is ready. Are we prepared to meet him? Take time today to look at your calendar and consider setting aside a specific hour, or even a whole day, to spend sitting in God’s presence.