Are We Prepared?

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord. make straight in the desert a highway for our God, Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

(Isaiah 40:3-5 NIV)

Preparation is a major part of life. How long did you take to prepare for your wedding? Was it six months, twelve months, twenty-four months or more? There are nine months to prepare to be parents. Getting ourselves ready, getting a room ready, having baby showers, preparing for clothing, and preparing to care for a little one. All nine months the excitement builds wondering what the baby will look like? What color are his or her eyes? Will she have Mom’s dimples? Or will he have Daddy’s color of hair?

We don’t really think about it, but we prepare for going on vacation. We decide we want to take a vacation. First, where will we go? Then we look at prices of trips to different places and see which we can afford. If you are like me, you went for a drive! It was delightful. However, no beach! Oh well. If we can go on a trip, then we book tickets and vacation time. That’s when we get excited and begin to plan in our mind what we will take for clothes, what activities we will do there, and just think about the idea of getting away from the everyday grind.

We are coming upon another season of preparation: the season of Advent. I talked to my 8-year-old grand-niece last week, who early in the conversation, was quick to tell me she had received her advent calendar which contained toys, and her father’s advent calendar contained chocolates. To her what was important was that the Advent calendar counted down the days until Christmas! Do we understand what Advent is about? What did God mean for Advent to be about?

Advent is from the Latin word “adventus” which simply means “coming” or “arrival”. The celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It can also be a preparation for the second coming of Jesus or Messiah. We always celebrate the birthday of the baby Jesus. But do we take the time to prepare our hearts and minds for the second coming of the King of Kings? I don’t know about you but my schedule has already sped up to get shopping done for family and friends; get dates on the calendar where we want to go in the next few weeks i.e. craft sales, charity events and other things that my sister and I want to do. My sister is excitedly decorating. As I am writing this, however, my spirit is yearning for quiet, peaceful time to be alone more often with God and to grow in my relationship with Him. I believe we can always grow more. I want to be so close to Him that when He comes back the second time, I can run up to Him and wrap my arms around Him and thank Him for being my Redeemer & Heavenly Father, who saved me and loves me unconditionally.

What are the distractions which keep that from happening in our lives? Let us be sure to schedule a good amount of time with God as we prepare for Christmas!

By Kathleen Brewer