How We Can Prepare Our Hearts for Christmas
“Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:7).
There’s no greater picture of humility than the Christmas story. The King of kings, the One who is the Savior of the world, came down from His position next to God in heaven and was laid in a place where animals dined. With no guest room available, Jesus began His life on earth in the most unlikely circumstances. Yet, it was all God’s plan.
Jesus’s humble beginning was intentionally orchestrated by God to reveal what kind of King Jesus would be. He wasn’t going to be a king who would rule over the nations. Instead, He was going to a king that would rule over the hearts of those who believe in Him. Jesus came to the lost, to the abandoned, to the outcasts, to the sinners, to the sick, and to the helpless. Jesus came down to earth to be the King of your heart. So the question is: Will you prepare Him room in your heart this Advent season?
Preparing Christ Room
While there was no guest room available for Jesus on that first Christmas day, we have the opportunity to give Christ spiritual room this Advent season. The popular Christmas hymn, “Joy to the World” says, “Let every heart prepare Him room.” Though we may sing this hymn at church, hear it in every store we shop at, and listen to it in our cars while we commute to work, we might sing these lyrics without considering the significance of these words.
Amongst the hustle and bustle this time often brings, we can forget to focus on our relationship with Christ. We can put off spending time with Jesus in His Word because we’re preoccupied with our gift lists, activities, or other holiday-related events. But when we fill up our time during the Advent season with so many things that take our focus away from Christ, we fail to prepare Him room. We leave no space for the truth of God’s Word to penetrate and reside within our hearts.
Think about what you do when you have a guest staying in your home. You likely wouldn’t let them stay in a room full of clutter with hardly any space to lay down on the bed. Instead, you would get the room ready. You would clean the floors, remove the clutter, and wash the sheets. You would make your guest feel welcome. But do you prepare your heart in the same way during the Advent season? Have you considered what you need to “declutter” within your heart to give Christ the attention and honor He deserves?
What is Advent?
Advent is a special season that Christians all over the world celebrate as they wait for Christmas Day to approach. While many simply use it as a way to countdown to Christmas, this season is about so much more. It’s a time for us to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus Christ. Advent helps focus our eyes on the impact of Jesus’s arrival in our own lives and points us forward to the hope we have in His future arrival. It’s a time to intentionally create and establish space to remember, ponder, and delight over Christ’s first coming, and to wait expectantly for His Second Coming.
Essentially, Advent is an opportunity to prepare Christ room. But taking the opportunity to do so is up to us. If we don’t prepare Christ room during Advent, we might approach Christmas with the wrong perspective, emphasizing the fun of the holiday while missing what the holiday is all about. Or we can approach Christmas overwhelmed and hurried because we didn’t take the time to still our hearts before the Lord.
Practical Ways to Prepare Christ Room
During this Advent season, make it a priority to prepare Christ room in your heart. This could look like carving out time each morning to sit with Jesus and His Word. It could look like journaling each evening, evaluating what’s taking up room inside your heart instead of Christ, and confessing these things to God. But one of the greatest ways you can prepare Christ room is keeping the purpose of Christmas central.
When you keep the purpose of Christmas central, you approach Christmas with a worshipful mindset. You view Christmas not just as a time to receive gifts but a time to extend worship and praise to your humble King born in Bethlehem. And as you keep the purpose of Christmas central, you take up the Advent season with joy and intentionally use that time to ready your heart for the arrival of Christ.
Don’t let the craze that can sometimes accompany Christmas keep you from focusing on Jesus and spending time with Him. So this Advent, prepare Christ room by clearing out what doesn’t need to take up space within your heart and draw close to Him.
