Prepare the Way

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"
Mark 1:1-3

Friday after Thanksgiving marked the annual “get all the Christmas stuff out of the basement” event at our house. The Christmas gift shopping has begun and plans are being made for gatherings with friends and family. Even as I type this out, I am subconsciously planning out what December will look like for our worship gatherings and community events. I am sure we are all making plans and preparing for Christmas. Planning where you will go for Christmas and who will be invited. Planning what gifts to purchase for Christmas. Planning who will host and who will bring the pecan pie. 

God is a planner as well and God had plans for Christmas, too. His plan all along was for Christmas to come. All throughout the Bible we see God’s plans for Christmas. The first Advent of Jesus. Take a look at passages like Micah 5 and Isaiah 9 and so many others that show God’s plan all along. His perfect plan to send His Son, Emanuel, to be the Savior of the world. The amazing thing is God’s plan involves people. His plan includes broken, messed up, weird people and He uses them to carry out His perfect plan. He used people like John the Baptist who wore goat skins, ate bugs and wild honey, and camped out all the time to prepare the way for Jesus’ first coming. This was God’s plan all along and the Gospel of Mark quotes Isaiah which was written some 700 years before Jesus came the first time. He was part of God’s plan to prepare the way for the Savior. God’s plan is that Jesus will come again and His plan includes us preparing the way for that second Advent as well. 

As we look to this Christmas season and celebrate Jesus’ first coming, let us be mindful that He will come again. Let us be mindful that just as God included others to prepare the way for Jesus’s first coming, He includes us in preparing the way for His second coming. Here are some practical ways to do just that. 

• Read through and talk about the Christmas story in the Bible. 
• Talk about why Jesus had to come and how He came. 
• Talk also about How Jesus lived, died, and rose again.

Make your plans this Christmas to be more about God’s Kingdom rather than the secular world. Think and pray through how you might give and use your resources so that others may come to know Jesus.  Think about who you can invite into your Christmas plans this year that need some hope and a straight path.