“Joy to the world! the Lord is come; let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare Him room . . . ” – those are the words of the Christmas carol, “Joy to the World”, written by Isaac Watts in 1719. It’s still one of my favorite Christmas hymns today. Interesting in the opening lines of the hymn, Watts is talking about receiving and preparing. Seems to me, that’s what Advent is all about – preparing, preparing to receive the King of kings and Lord of lords.

People didn’t do a very good job of either one of these at Jesus’s first Advent. They were unprepared and consequently, unable to receive Him properly.

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11)

They had not prepared a place for Him, a place in which to receive Him. They had not made any room for Jesus at all. Luke makes that clear when he says –

“and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 1:7, italics mine)

I wonder why? Why was there no room? Why were they so uninformed about His arrival and therefore so unprepared to receive the Christ child? Their own scriptures and prophets had been talking about the coming of a Messiah for centuries. The Jewish people knew these prophesies by heart. Were they simply so busy living their everyday lives that they couldn’t take time out to prepare a place, to make a space, for the King of kings and Lord of lords to enter in? (sound familiar?)

You know what’s really ironic? We (humankind) couldn’t be bothered to prepare a suitable space in which to receive God’s only Son BUT – in a dramatic plot twist, this is exactly what God’s only Son, Jesus, is doing for you and for me right now. He’s preparing a place for us, even as I write these words! Jesus, Himself, said as much very clearly to His disciples while He was still with them. Jesus told them –

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)

These words of Jesus give me great comfort, great joy of anticipation, perfect peace and hope – so much hope! I have something to look forward to that is a certainty because the words of Jesus are true. We may have had “no room in the inn” for Jesus when He came to live with us for awhile, but Jesus has a room, a special place, for each one of us that He is preparing personally Himself even now in anticipation of our arrival. Jesus didn’t receive a proper welcome into our world, no celebration, no fanfare – but you and I are going to receive a warm welcome, complete with celebration and rejoicing, into His kingdom.

“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)

Jesus is creating space for me and space for you so that we can be with Him for eternity. Which begs the question – am I reciprocating? Am I creating space today for Jesus to enter in and abide with me? Or is my daily life too crowded? Am I too busy? Is my day so filled with other things that there’s no room in my life (in my inn) for Jesus? Are my affections so firmly fixed on other things that there’s nothing left of my heart for my Savior? Has all my love been allocated elsewhere?

These are the hard questions I need to answer if I am to adequately prepare for Advent – if I am to be ready for the arrival of my Savior King. I am going to have to clear some space in my calendar, in my heart and in my life to make way for the coming of the King. That’s what Advent is all about – preparing for the arrival, of the long-awaited Redeemer – the One God promised to mankind so long ago. We kind of missed Jesus’s first appearance, but we definitely won’t miss His second appearance, His second Advent, when He returns to earth to complete God’s rescue of us, His dearly loved children. His second Advent will be inescapable. It is described in this way –

“At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” (Mark 13:26-27)

No chance of that going unnoticed! But while we wait for this second Advent of Christ, we continue to celebrate His first Advent annually. We celebrate the day of His birth every year at Christmas, recalling the miraculous circumstances surrounding His birth including angels visiting Mary, Joseph, shepherds and wisemen, a special star in the sky, and angels rejoicing while the earth relegated the Christ child to a manger in a stable in a remote village called Bethlehem.

We need this celebration of Christmas to remind us just how much God loves each one of us. We need to remember to what lengths our Heavenly Father went to provide us a lifeline that would restore our broken relationship with Him. Just how far Jesus had to go to rescue us is described in Philippians –

“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! 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 2:6-11)

The first Advent is about the baby, the second is about the conquering King. But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, I will do like the Christmas carol says and let my heart prepare Him room today and every day. I will prepare a place and let the Christ child, the newborn King in. It’s time!

“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)

let Him in! His Advent is upon us!

sincerely, Grace Day