Am I ready for Christmas?

This is a question that I have been hearing a lot recently as the holiday quickly approaches. I am not sure how to answer this question, especially this year. My house has no tree or lights, not even a wreath on the door. The presents are unwrapped and still in my closet. Cards haven’t been addressed or even purchased. There has been no holiday baking or plans to do any. Does this mean I am not ready for Christmas?

After reflecting on this for a while I realized that this is probably the first Christmas season that I could answer truthfully with a resounding “Yes! I am ready for a time to remember the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior and to reflect on all that was accomplished by this act of a loving Father and a willing Son.”

The season before Christmas is the Advent season. This is a season of preparation for the birth of Jesus, a time to prepare hearts to remember the gift of His Son and His time on earth, and to look forward with anticipation to the yet unfulfilled promise of a second coming of the Son as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to establish His final kingdom. Advent is marked by feelings of hope and anticipation. It is a season of possibilities and new beginnings. It presents a question that even the non believers can’t ignore. If this child’s birth we are celebrating actually was Jesus, the Son of God, and He was born to a virgin, lived a sinless life, was killed and resurrected, could the rest of the story be true as well? Is He returning a second time to judge the world? Do I need to do something about this man named Jesus?

As for me, this was the year I have finally, irrevocably done something about Jesus, I opened the doors to my heart and let Him come in and allowed Him to change my cold, dead heart to a new soft heart full of His love and grace. My faith moved from head knowledge to a heart relationship but only after I opened the door and allowed Him access to the dark, hidden rooms that held all my pain and sin. The transformation in my life has been amazing and to me is nothing short of a miracle. I have truly been reborn, awakened to a life with hope and possibilities, given a chance to walk the path that I was created to walk which will bring meaning and purpose to all I have experienced. Eternity is now something I can anticipate with longing, for that time of endless sweet fellowship and relationship with the One who came back for me, who paid my price of admission into that fellowship with His life so that I might enter in.

To think it all started with the birth of a baby, a very special baby who came to set us free and who grew up to become the all powerful, victorious King of Kings who will return one day soon to establish His eternal kingdom of peace. What hope, what joy, what endless possibilities.

My heart is ready for this Christmas season even though the outward signs of the holiday aren’t evident yet. I realize now that the tree and lights, the gifts and cookies are not something I should do first to prepare for this season. For me, these are things I should do after I have prepared my heart to remember and refocus on the special gift of promise offered by this birth. They are outward signs of the joy, hope and anticipation that are living within my heart. They are reflections of the light, hope and love that I have living within me, something tangible I can share with the world. They are a celebration of the things He has done and have yet to do, a celebration of new beginnings and possibilities!

I think I am ready to go put up some lights and buy a few gifts for some special people! My prayer is that you, too, can find hope and joy this season and can see the unlimited possibilities that are offered by the birth of this baby.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.