“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” Luke 3:4-6
Plumping up the red bow and checking the wreath to make sure it had survived the past year in the attic, I scanned the front door for the nail where we’d always hung the Christmas wreath. Christmas music streamed from the CD player. Garlands, lights, and an assortment of other decorations transfused the house with a sense of expectancy. This for me was when the festivity and anticipation of Christmas began. I loved Christmas. I loved the celebration.
But as I perused the front door, I unfortunately saw more than the nail. I saw dirt! And not only did a film of soil cover the door, but a good-sized cobweb nestled in one corner of the molding. Ugh! My merriment gave way to the practical realization that before I could enjoy the fun of decorating, I needed to take care of the un-fun cleaning.
Setting down the wreath, I trudged back into the house, found the cleaner, grabbed a bunch of paper towels and dutifully returned to the entryway. I sprayed, I wiped; I cleaned. And as I did so, I began to think. First, I thought how dreadful it would have looked to put our Christmas wreath up on a grimy door. Yes, the wreath is pretty and decorative, but if hung on a dirty door, the gesture would be futile.
I also thought about the coming celebration of Christmas—the decorations, happy music, sparkling lights, shopping trips, and family get-togethers. Again, the celebration is wonderful, but just as it would seem futile to hang a Christmas wreath on a dirty door, how futile it would be to expect to experience the joy of Christmas if our lives and hearts are not right before the Lord. Preparing for Christmas took on fresh meaning for me. Before I decorated my house, I needed to clean my house, before I began the Christmas celebration, I needed to prepare my heart.
So even as I wiped the grime from my front door that December afternoon, I realized God was speaking to me through my mundane task. As the Christmas season begins, I need to do more than decorate, shop, and bake cookies. In preparing for Christmas, I need to ask God to show me how He wants me to examine my heart and prepare it so my heart can be clean before him as I worship and celebrate His coming. Then I can more fully experience the celebration of God’s precious Son.
In preparing for Christmas, perhaps you too need to ask God to cleanse your heart so you can focus your eyes on Him. Only with clean hearts can we fully celebrate and enjoy the beauty and wonder of God’s coming to us as a child in the manger and the savior of our souls.
Or perhaps you need to ask God into your life for the very first time.
Dear Lord, thank you for the awesome gift of your love. Thank you for coming to earth as a baby so that you could give your life on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins in order that that I can have a clean heart before you. Lord, I give myself to you today and ask you to come into my life, cleanse it, and show me how to live a life pleasing to you. Give me the strength to flee from temptation, and forgive me for the things that do not please you. Help me not to stray. Help me to keep my focus on you. Help me seek your guidance and know your presence day by day.
“Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
If getting into “the Christmas spirit” isn’t even on your radar this year, if you actually find yourself dreading the coming of Christmas, please read “When the Merry Disappears from Christmas” It may help you experience Christmas in a fresh, new way that fills the emptiness of your heart. https://lindarooks.com/2013/12/18/when-the-merry-disappears-from-christmas/
