There is much preparation that goes into the Christmas holiday season, don’t you agree?
Christmas trees to be bought and decorated.
Christmas cards to be written; perhaps even a Christmas photo to be snapped.
Christmas lights to put up to decorate the outside of houses.
Christmas cookies to bake for cookie exchanges.
Gifts to be bought for those dear to our hearts.
Practices for Christmas concerts or cantatas.
Christmas teas to attend.
Christmas plays to attend.
Christmas carols to sing to shut-ins.
The list of “worldly” preparations for Christmas go on and on.
As you go about all of these earthly preparations have you given any thought to the “spiritual” aspect of preparations for Christmas?
PREPARE HIM ROOM
My thoughts turned more to this Prepare Him Room idea especially this past week for two reasons. My spirit has been refreshed by listening to indie artist, Weston Skaggs’, song with that same name. Yes, I admit I am that person that will go on a song marathon playing the same song over and over as it just soothes my soul; this song is definitely one of those!
In fact, this past week I was privileged to attend one of Weston’s Christmas Concerts and to hear the songs live made the songs even more meaningful and worshipful for me. If you were a little fly on the wall there, you would have see me in the back, eyes closed, singing right along. You see I had to sit in the back as I am not a singer; I didn’t want anyone to run out of the building! 😉
Only God’s perfect timing could have my Bible Study passages for this week, that I was actually reading while waiting for the doors to the concert to open, be the exact ones that I heard an online sermon on Sunday morning! The stories are from John 1:19-42 that will be mentioned in a bit and revolve around the Prepare Him Room theme.
When we think about Prepare Him Room, who is a Biblical person that comes to mind that was the first to proclaim similar words?
Yes, John, the Baptist!
John, the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, was the first person who pointed us in the direction of “spiritual” preparations that I encourage you to keep in mind especially this Christmas holiday season as you go about the “worldly” preparations.
Luke 3:2-6 says, “during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all people will see God’s salvation.’” (NIV)
John’s account of John, the Baptist, is very rich in directing people to “prepare the way for the Lord.” I would encourage you to take a few moments to read John 1:19-42. A brief synposis of those verses would be:
–Jewish leaders were trying to figure out who John the Baptist was
–John correctly replied “I am ‘the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!’” which was from the prophet Isaiah.
–John knew ‘A man is coming after me, but He is greater than I am, because He existed before I was born.” (Though John was born 6 months earlier than Jesus, John said this because he knew that Jesus always existed with God the Father from the beginning.)
–John knew who Jesus was because he saw the Spirit descend on Jesus when John baptized Him.
–John pointed out Jesus when He walked by correctly identifying Him as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
Can you spare a few minutes to listen to the song, Prepare Him Room, sung by Weston Skaggs or at the least read the lyrics below?
PREPARE HIM ROOM
Words and Music by Weston Skaggs, Anthony Hoisington, and Chris Hoisington
He could have come with blasts of trumpet loud
He could have made old King Herod bow
But this earth is not His home or the treasures that it holds
So make room prepare Him room
Chorus
Let every heart prepare him room
While heaven and nature sing their tune
So when He knocks upon your door
Would you open it up for the Lord
Make room prepare him room
We wanted Him to wear an earthly crown
For Him to bring the Roman Empire down
But He bowed Himself down low to clear the balance that we owe
So make room prepare Him room
Joy oh joy to the world
Joy oh joy to the world
Let every heart
Prepare Him room
For now the Son sits at the Father’s hand
Until the time appointed in His plan
For Him to ride in with a shout
And cut Satan to the ground
So make room prepare Him room
Chorus 2
Let every heart prepare him room
While heaven and nature sing their tune
So when He knocks upon your door
Would you open it up for the Lord
Make room
So when He knocks upon your door
Would you open it up for the Lord
Make room, make room, make room
Prepare him room
What a powerful song; such great truth~
~We need to prepare him room in our hearts, our lives, in all we do…
After all…
…He came to this earth as a humble servant,
…He died on the cross for our sins,
…He will defeat Satan once and for all
~That there is always that time WHEN he knocks on the door of our heart–which brings me encouragement especially for those who don’t currently live for the Lord
~When He knocks on the door of our heart, we can welcome Him in
~What joy there is in our lives when we do prepare him room
(This song is from the album "Stories for Christmas." Feel free to learn more about the album & even download it via the link!)
May I encourage you this week to take a few moments and think about this question…..
Do you Prepare Him Room….at Christmas and every day?
…Take time to see Him at work in everyone and everything around you
…Take time to talk to Him; sharing your thoughts and feelings
…Take time to listen to Him; directing your path
…Take time to praise Him in everything; even the sorrow
…Take time to forgive those who have hurt you
My prayer for you is that this Christmas season you may indeed know without a doubt that you have prepared Him room. May the joy of that overflow in your life! Invite and point others, like John the Baptist, to PREPARE HIM ROOM!
So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. –Matthew 24:42-44 (NLT)
