They are all around me now, everywhere I look – symbols of this Christmas season – decorated, brightly lit trees, wreaths, lights, snowmen, Santas, reindeer, angels, candy canes, and the occasional nativity. The sheer abundance of these myriad symbols makes them virtually inescapable. At work, in every store, at the gym, at church, (of course) in my neighborhood and even in my own home, the symbols of Christmas surround me continuously.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated quite a collection of Christmas decorations. I even have some things that belonged to my parents and some that belonged to my grandparents at one time. Unpacking and unwrapping these decorations is like rediscovering lost treasure while reliving old memories all over again each year. They always bring me a lot of joy and comfort as I surround myself with these symbols of the season I am preparing to celebrate, which is Advent – the coming of the long awaited King of kings and Lord of lords.

“On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” (Revelation 19:16)

But lately I have become aware of some controversy concerning the symbols of this season and the inclusion of these symbols in our celebration of Christ’s birth. For example, apparently the Christmas tree was a pagan symbol which was not brought into the celebration of Christmas until the 1800’s here in the United States. However, evergreen trees are the ones used for Christmas trees, which seems fitting since evergreens of all varieties are a symbol of eternal life, which Jesus came to bring to mankind. Usually an angel or a star sits atop the Christmas tree reminding us of the angel who appeared to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’s birth or of the star which appeared on the night of His birth over the place where Jesus lay in the manger. It was this star that guided the three kings from foreign lands in their search for Jesus.

As I look around my house, it’s hard to tell whether I have more Santas or more Nativity scenes. Would it be clear to the casual observer coming into my home, what or who I am celebrating this season? There is one decoration I particularly like which sits on the windowsill above my kitchen sink. It is a small nativity scene which includes Santa Claus on his knees before the baby Jesus in the manger. This image puts things in their proper perspective for me – reminding me of these words –

“Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Santa Claus may be pretty popular in our culture at this time of the year BUT even Santa bows down and takes a back seat to Jesus whose birthday we are celebrating at Christmas. We celebrate because He came! To truly appreciate that sacrifice, we have to realize that Jesus –

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8)

This is the miracle that we celebrate at Christmas – the miracle of Jesus’s birth, the miracle that God loves us so much that He came here personally in the form of His Son, Jesus.

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel’ – which means, ‘God with us.’ ” (Matthew 1:22-23)

Jesus’s birth is something that is worthy of celebration. Jesus’s appearance is good news for each and every one of us. Jesus’s coming is hope in an otherwise hopeless world. Jesus is God’s gift of light and life to our dark and dying world. The angels proclaimed as much to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’s birth and the proclamation remains the same to this day –

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.’ ” (Luke 2:10-14)

Good news, great joy, peace to men, God’s favor shown to us! This is what we need to remember – what we dare not forget. This is what we celebrate every year – God’s gift of Himself to us. Jesus has come and He’s coming again. Now is the time to prepare to receive Him.

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

preparing a place for Him,

sincerely, Grace Day

“Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Let earth receive her king!” (so go the words to a familiar Christmas carol) Only they didn’t receive their king – they didn’t even recognize their king when He came to earth. The people failed to give their king a warm reception when He made His first appearance here, and we still struggle with receiving Him to this day.

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:10-11)

“let every heart prepare Him room” – the song continues. Is that why they didn’t receive their king? their long-awaited Deliverer? their promised Messiah? because they weren’t ready for His coming, because they hadn’t made any room for Him, because they hadn’t prepared a place for Him in their homes, in their hearts, or in their lives? I guess they were too busy with their daily, mundane lives to make a little room to receive the Redeemer they claimed to be longing for, even though they had made no preparations for His arrival.

Today, as I turn my calendar, I discover that December has arrived and I realize it is time for me to make room to receive my Redeemer all over again. Didn’t I just do this eleven short months ago? How has my life become so full of clutter in such a short time? What all have I let creep back in that I had once cleaned out in order to make room for my coming King? I ponder this point as I put away my pumpkins in order to make room for Santas and snowmen and stockings and reindeer and such. (no wonder there’s no room for Jesus) I am simply replacing one set of clutter with another.

I want to have clarity. That’s why I need to clear away the accumulated clutter in my life. In order to see things more clearly, I need to clear away all those things that steal my focus and obscure my vision, preventing me from seeing what or who truly matters.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) Kind of hard to do if I am surrounded by mountains of my own making, mountains that block my view, thereby robbing me of my vision.

“Let every heart prepare Him room!” That’s what this month of Advent is all about for me. As I am preparing my home, I want also to be preparing my heart to receive God’s gift to me – His only Son. I don’t want my life to be so busy and so cluttered that I don’t have the time or the room to invite Jesus in so that He can abide with me. That’s why He came, after all, to make His home with us.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

That’s what Advent calls me to remember and to celebrate – that God kept His promise and sent you and me a Savior – and that Savior is His One and Only Son, Jesus. Jesus came and the world has never been the same since. He brought His light into our darkness and His light will not be extinguished.

“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)

“Let every heart prepare Him room!” I want to be ready when He comes. To that end I will pray the prayer King David prayed so long ago –

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:10-12)

Advent is the anticipation of and the preparation for the arrival of the King. The promise has been given and now it will be fulfilled. Hope and joy accompany this long-awaited event. But I have work to do if I am to be ready – the time is drawing near!

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

sincerely, Grace Day