We have entered a time of the year when everyday life's usual hustle and bustle ramps up a notch on the "Rat Race Scale." People who were already stressed about time suddenly must find more time to do things they don't normally do.
It's the Christmas Season; for most of us, it is anything but a holiday. Lest I be accused of being a "Grinch," let me also say I still love Christmas. It is a time when people are more cordial and friendlier. I have noticed that if you say hello, at least you will get a grunt in return rather than the usual deaf ear. And you will really get them to speak to you if you get in their way or pick up something they wanted first.
Everywhere you turn, people prepare for the time that is undoubtedly coming. There is an air of expectancy; for many, their life has taken on a new purpose, at least for a while. They will lay aside a lot of the things that seemed so important just a few weeks ago because now their whole focus is shifted to preparing for the coming of a little, short, red-faced demon that rides around in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, or nine, depending on which version of the lie you want to propagate.
Christmas is upon us, and there are only six days left to get out there and fight the traffic, spend your money, and get those special gifts for the special people in our lives. So, hurry up so you can wait in lines for hours to get that new Barbie for the little girl in your life, that X Box Game for the boys, or whatever it is on your list this year.
You will need to check your list and then check it twice – you have to make sure that no one is left out, whether they have been naughty or nice. After all, if you don't get something for everyone, their feelings might be hurt, and they won't give you anything next year.
But wait! That's not even the tip of the iceberg! Not only do you have to rearrange your schedule to spend endless hours at the mall or fight the traffic, but you also must find time to check out the lights that adorn so many homes in our area.
Then you must sit down long to plan your Christmas dinner and ensure there is enough food to feed the multitudes. God forbid anyone would want their 40th cookie or piece of fudge and find the tray empty. Oh, Horror of Horrors – Uncle Jimmy wanted a 6th piece of lemon pie, and it was all gone. I should have bought 13 instead of 12. I just knew that 12 pies were not going to be enough.
Next year, that won't happen. I'll buy enough for a hundred people and ensure no one goes hungry. We can lose that extra 20 pounds that we will gain just by making a New Year's Resolution to go on an extreme diet that will last about two days.
Then, there are the preparations for exchanging gifts with the family. Oh, what a time that will be. Let's buy a few extra gifts to ensure everyone gets something; we might have Jill's boyfriend or Jack's girlfriend, and we would want them to feel included. We might have to add a room onto the house to hold the toys our children get - toys that won't last through Christmas Day and, even if they do, the kids will lose interest in them and go back to playing with sticks and cardboard boxes in less than a week.
Preparations, preparations, preparations – we must make our preparations – nothing can be left to chance – nothing can be overlooked – no one can be left out – the rest of our year will be ruined if Christmas isn't perfect.
"My family won't love me if everything isn't perfect. My kids will hate me if they don't have that new Hummer under the tree. My wife or husband will doubt my love if there isn't a diamond ring or a new hunting rifle there."
What are you waiting for? Why are you still sitting there? There are only six days left to get all this done and more. Don't you love your family enough? I am confident that not all of you are prepared!
Now I realize that most of you don't act like what I have just described; at least, I hope not. You don't go to these extremes in your preparations for Christmas. But I also know that everyone can relate to what I have said and that there is a measure of truth that we all identify with.
Preparations are necessary if we are to have a successful Holiday Season. We make those preparations because we love our families and want to do everything we can to make this a special time for them. We want to show them our love through our actions, and nothing is wrong with that.
But today, I want to remind you not to forget to make some preparations for an even greater time that is coming.
Isaiah 40:3-5, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."
Hundreds of years before Jesus would be born in that manger in Bethlehem, God had prepared one of his prophets named Isaiah to bring forth this word, foretelling the coming of His Son. In fact, in eternity past, God had already made his plans and prepared a way that man could be redeemed from sin. In Genesis 1:2, God spoke light into a dark and void emptiness and began the creation we all enjoy today. In bringing forth light, we can already see a picture of the coming Light of the World, Jesus Christ.
Then, in Genesis 3:15, we read where God speaks directly to Satan and reveals his ultimate plan for the coming of Christ when he says, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Our God is a God of order and preparation. He leaves nothing to chance, so his plans always succeed.
And so, we read in Matthew 3:1-3, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
There were preparations that our Father in Heaven decreed should be completed before his Son, the Light of the World, would be presented unto a dark and dying world. So we find that John the Baptist, a man filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, was sent to make those preparations. What was John's message? What was necessary for men to do to be ready to receive Jesus? John's entire message can be found in one word – REPENT!
The coming of the Son of God and the revelation of the Gospel to this world had to be preceded by a time of preparation. Israel had fallen from its place of prominence in the world through its idolatry. The prophets had been silent for about 400 years. There was no vision in the land. There was no hope, and the light of God in Israel had all but gone out.
So, John came preaching repentance. He came to tell Israel where they were in their relationship with God. They were a lost and dying people. They were a people who were the "apple of God's eye," and yet they knew not God at all. They had a form of worship, a form of rituals, but all their laws and rituals only served to condemn them more. They were spiritually blind, morally corrupt, and physically impoverished. They were caught in Satan's trap of sin, and there was no way out.
Israel needed to turn away from their form of worship and their religious traditions and turn their hearts toward God. John came to lift their vision off of the shadows of the tabernacle or temple worship, to lift their hearts out of the miry clay that held them in such deep despair, and to lift their thoughts higher than they had been as they looked upon their nation as a slave to Rome. John preached so that Israel could see that there was hope – their Deliverer was coming! One who was much more significant than John, whose sandals John would not be worthy to unlatch.
But what did it take for Israel to be prepared for Jesus coming? It took true repentance. They needed to turn away from their sins of idolatry. They needed to turn away from their sins of doubt and fear. Not only did they need to turn away from their sin, but they also had to make a conscious choice to turn toward God, to lift their eyes to behold His Son, and then choose to accept Jesus. Their Messiah was coming, but they were so blind in their sin and self-righteousness that they could not see him.
In like fashion, we see the Word of God going forth today in our own dark and dying world. Jesus is coming again, but before he comes, there is a time of preparation. Before he can come into this world, sin must be judged. Before he can enter your heart, your sin must be judged. The righteous, holy Son of God cannot enter the heart of a sinner until the Blood of the Lamb removes that sin.
That heart must be prepared. We must break up that fallow ground of a life and a heart that is hardened by sin. We must allow the Word of God to plow deep into our hearts and lives and break those chains that bind us. We must prepare ourselves for His coming.
It is a sad thing when we realize that most people will spend more time preparing for the coming of Satan Claus than for the coming of Jesus Christ. We will spend more time cooking pies than reading God's Word. We will spend hours in the stores, but we don't have time to be in God's House when it comes time for worship. We will spend hours hanging out lights, wrapping gifts, and doing a hundred other things, but how much time will we have for talking to God in prayer?
Friends, we need to realize that Jesus came the first time as the Savior of the World, but the next time he comes, it will be as the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Righteous Judge of all the earth. We need to remember that it's vastly more important to prepare for the coming of the Lord than for the arrival of Christmas. Instead of being overly concerned with making this Holiday Season a joyous time of the year for our families, we should double our efforts to reach them with a message of repentance.
Jesus may come before we can celebrate Christmas this year, and where will that leave us then? Are we preparing for Christmas and forgetting to prepare for the coming of the Lord? Are we focused solely on enjoying the holidays and forgetting about the pain and suffering that is coming upon the earth? Are we more concerned about the comfort and fulfillment of the needs of the flesh and unconcerned about the condition of the hearts of our loved ones?
Let us remember the real reason for Christmas. Amid all the hustle and bustle of the malls, the glitz and glamour of the decorations, and the excitement of parades and family gatherings, let us never forget that Jesus is standing there, with tears in his eyes, with his hands outstretched, begging and pleading for people to turn away from their sin in repentance and to turn to Him as their Savior.
The greatest gift we can give anyone is to tell them about Jesus' love. Tell them that he is no longer a baby in a manger but the risen Son of God and the Savior of the World. The greatest gift anyone can receive is the gift of Salvation and eternal life in Christ.
But before they can receive it, we must prepare. We must tell them of God's love, mercy, and grace. We must preach repentance unto them. We must not fail in our duty as Christians to spread the message of the Gospel because the souls of our families and our friends are hanging in the balance.
Are you preparing for Christmas in your home? I'm sure most of us are, and there's nothing wrong with that. But while you are preparing for Christmas, remember to prepare for the Coming of the Lord. Those who aren't prepared won't be watching and waiting, won't be found faithful, and will be left behind. Get prepared and stay prepared. Jesus is coming soon!
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