A HEART FULL OF HOPE

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” – Isaiah 40:3-5

How do you prepare for Christmas? Many of us hunt for, wrap, and hide heaps of perfect gifts; choose and adorn the perfect tree; bake mounds of holiday treats; write and send cards – hoping that others will enjoy all of our exhausting efforts. Some of us look forward to when the holiday stress will be over with, hoping we can survive without going crazy.

Approximately 700 years before Jesus’s birth, Isaiah provided words of hope and comfort to a crestfallen King, prophesying that one day Israel would see the “glory of the LORD revealed”!  God’s people were supposed to “prepare the way of the LORD,” but how should they do this? By bringing the valleys high and the mountains low, making the crooked paths straight, and smoothing the rough places.

What? How could mere humans possibly change geography in such drastic ways?

Fortunately, God did not expect anyone to actually transform the landscape in preparation for Jesus’s coming. What God meant by providing such vivid imagery is that the world would be radically upended by His Son.

Those of us who live 2,000 years removed from Jesus’s birth have the benefit of hindsight; that is, we can see the ripple effect that Jesus’s birth, precious sacrificial death, and astonishing resurrection have had on history. Indeed, in spiritual ways, the world has been upended in wonderful ways!

In light of this, does it perhaps seem strange and inappropriate that what we often look forward to most about Christmas are material things and temporal pleasures? Do any of the ways we “prepare the way of the LORD” during the Christmas season have eternal, life-upending impact? Or are we focused only on making a seasonal (short-lived) impact?

As we look forward with hope to the coming of Christ – both at Christmastime and at the end of time – let us do so with our hearts fixed on Jesus himself. As we build excitement in the hearts and minds of our loved ones, let us do so with eternity in view. Oh that we would get more excited about Jesus and his precious gift of salvation than anything else on earth!

Dear God, we thank you this Christmas season for presents, tasty treats, festive decorations, and family. More than anything we thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus, and the blessings we have through Him, such as love, salvation, wisdom, peace, and joy. Please help us cultivate a sense of hopeful anticipation this Christmas not because we’re focused on what money can buy, but because we are focused on celebrating the many invaluable gifts you’ve provided to us through Jesus Christ. Amen.