Preparing for Christmas

We’ve reached that time of year where “preparation” is on everyone’s minds.  Of course, it means different things to different people.  For some who are preparing for Christmas guests, it’s about getting all the decorating, shopping, wrapping, and baking done.  It’s about planning the meals and making sure everything is ready for the guests.  For those who are traveling this Christmas, it’s about getting the laundry done, packing, and preparing the house for a time of absence.  For those who have neither to look forward to, it’s about preparing their minds for another lonely day and hoping it passes quickly.

Music has always been an important part of my life, and preparing for Christmas is no different.  I love listening to my myriad of Christmas recordings – some that date back to my childhood, and usually at least one new one each year.  I seem to start my listening earlier every year, and the joy of music helps prepare me for the Christmas season – whether I’m staying home or traveling. 

As I was thinking about the idea of preparation, several songs came into my mind.  The ones I thought of reminded me that true preparation has nothing to do with the external trappings of Christmas (even though I LOVE that part).  True preparation has to do with making sure my heart has room for Jesus; and this shouldn’t just happen at Christmas, but rather year-round.

Yes, Jesus already came as a human baby - Emmanuel, “God With Us” – a very long time ago.  So why do I need to prepare for him today?  The songs from my childhood that talk about Christmas preparation have to do with opening my heart to Christ’s invitation and receiving his salvation – which is something I did a long time ago as a little girl.  Here’s an example:

“Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown,
when thou camest to earth for me;
but in Bethlehem's home was there found no room
for thy holy nativity.
 
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
there is room in my heart for thee.”

But there is more to preparing our hearts for Christ than just a one-time decision.  That is just the beginning of what God intended when he sent his Son.  Another song from the past, even though mostly focused on salvation, gives us a hint:

“Room for pleasure, room for business,
But for Christ, the crucified;
Not a place that he can enter,
In the heart for which he died!”

God wants a place in our hearts for relationship with him, but often the rest of life easily crowds him out.  Preparing my heart for Christ involves a daily focus on him – intentional actions and thoughts that keep relationship with him at the forefront and set up a pattern that doesn’t allow other things to push their way ahead of him.  Some days this is much harder work than others; and the Christmas season seems to be a time when it is harder to keep the right focus.  There are just too many distractions.

But I want every day to be more about God than anything else . . . even in the Christmas season.  And I hope you will join me in striving to prepare room in your heart for God every single day between now and Christmas.  Repetition forms habit, and by Christmas Day we should all have a habit formed that won’t be easily broken in the New Year!  Here’s one of my favorite newer songs to help us (bold emphasis mine):

“Who is man that You would care for us,

You clothed Yourself in flesh to draw us near;

In sinful man, You’ve made our hearts Your home,

To make Your glory known, Your redemption clear.

No greater love has anyone than this,

To sacrifice the gift of Your only Son;

So we lay aside all the earthly things,

And all that comes between this great divide.

Let every heart prepare Him room,

For nothing else compares with You,

Restore the joy of our salvation, Lord,

Prepare our hearts for more of You.”

(Rita Baloche; 2013 Sardache Songs/ASCAP)