Company is coming! At our house when we know in advance that company is coming we go into all out cleaning mode! The house is generally scrubbed and de-cluttered from top to bottom.
There is something good about getting ready to receive an honoured guest in our home. It shows that we are serious about welcoming someone of importance. I don’t enjoy the cleaning and the preparation but I enjoy the feeling that comes when everything is ready.
What if we took such an attitude toward Advent Season this year? What if we did our spiritual “Spring Cleaning” at Christmas? If every one of us seriously attempted to prepare our hearts for the coming of our Saviour, what a difference it would make. Our lives can get so cluttered at this time of year that we have little time to welcome the Son of God. In the popular Christmas Carol we sing, “Cast out our sin, and enter in; be born in us today…”. Isaiah prophesied that John the Baptist would be the voice of one calling, “Prepare the Way for the Lord.” (Isa. 40:3) Every now and then we need this type of call to help us prepare; we need to repent and prepare room for Jesus in our lives. This is such an important aspect of the Advent Season.
Henry Nouwen writes, “If we do not wait patiently in expectation for God’s coming in glory, we start wandering around, going from one little sensation to another. Our lives get stuffed with newspaper items, television stories, and gossip. Then our minds lose the discipline of discerning between what leads us closer to God and what doesn’t, and our hearts gradually lose their spiritual sensitivity.”
This Advent lets do the hard work of cleaning up and de-cluttering our hearts in preparation for his entrance into our lives. Remember, “company is coming” and we should be ready to welcome Christ in an unhurried and joyful way!
On behalf of the President of the Convention, Rev. Mike Palmer, the Council and the CABC Staff, we extend to you and your family our sincere hope that you will have a joyous Advent Season. Thank you for your faithful support of our shared ministries and your partnership in the Gospel as we continue to serve Lord Jesus Christ together.
In Christian Love,
Rev. Dr. Peter L. Reid
