When I come into my office, I always have to clear away the pile of mail, mostly junk mail before I can sit down to work. We clear out our email boxes and read only those messages that are important and relevant. If I am going to be able to do God’s work and to be open to people’s needs, I need to clear out all the stuff that will leave no room for their words and needs to find a welcome place in my heart.
Advent is the season to clear out the cluttered heart. Isaac Watts said it perfectly when he wrote: “Let every heart prepare (Christ) room” in Joy to the World. How do you prepare room for Christ? When Mary visited Elizabeth, Elizabeth lays aside all her self-preoccupation of being one who is pregnant late in her life, to welcome with joyful hospitality her cousin and the Christ whom she is bearing in her body (Luke 1:42-45).
In the busyness of the season and responsibilities for family and friends, we take time to make room for the one who is coming. We come to church on Sunday to worship, attend Advent Bible studies, read the Bible daily, pray, be with friends in our fellowship groups, and come to Christmas Eve service. On Christmas Day when the whole world seems to be still and quiet, may you make room for the One who is coming to take up residence within us and among us.
Let us pray.
Thank you, O God for this brief moment as we make room for Christ in our hearts and our lives. Show us how to clear away those things that keep us from being in the same room with you. Bless us this Christmas as we sing that joy has come in the world in Christ Jesus, our Savior. Amen.