you better be good?

"Tis the Season to Prepare

Get ready.  Get set.  Go.  The holiday season is upon us, and quite frankly this year it has caught me by surprise.  I’m not ready to be rushed into Christmas.  I want more time – a lot more time.  I don’t have my list of things to do done.  And I’m not quite certain how that happened.  I always have my list done.  I always make sure that I’m prepared.  But there it is and here I am, caught off guard. 

It’s odd in a way.  The more I thought of it, the more I realized how many people do get caught off guard by the season of Christ’s coming.  They don’t see the angels in the sky or the angels in their lives.  They miss the bright, shining star and they don’t hear the carols singing.  They are so caught up in holiday expectations that  the holy day catches them unaware, unprepared. 

It’s easy to do.  We all know that.  All we have to do is look at our lists of things to get done as we get ready for the big day.  The question is who or what are we getting ready for?  Is it the parties, the pageants, the coming of Santa Claus --- or are we preparing for the unadorned arrival of a Savior? Are we preparing ourselves this year for the advent of the coming of God?  And if so, how do we prepare? 

Not by shopping in the mall but by bringing food for the hungry --- not by putting up our Christmas lights but by praising the light of the world ---  not by a rush of parties but by a discipline of prayer.  This is the way we must prepare for the coming of Christ --- not at Walmart but in our lives.  Tis the season to prepare.  Prepare your heart for the coming of our King.