As my journey continues my thoughts begin to wander into the vast meaning of Christmas time. It is such a busy time of the year. My calendar for December is already filled. How do I prepare for something when I already feel overwhelmed by things that need to get done? I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way. We all have a list of tasks to be completed. We all have a list of cookies and sweets we want to prepare for this magical day. There are gifts to wrap, presents to buy and cards to sign and mail out. Really I could become so overwhelmed preparing for these 2 days that I forget the real meaning behind it all, but a few years ago I decided to reevaluate my priorities at Christmas. After all is it really matter if I bake 10 different kinds of cookies to pass out to family and friends?
As I reevaluated my priorities, baking cookies and sweets hit the bottom of my list. I began to focus on things that could change me and my heart. That for me was a turning point in this celebration of Christmas. I began to listen to that still, small voice that talked about preparing for the birth of my Savior with a clean heart. How in the world could I clean this heart of mine to be worthy of what was coming my way? I couldn't. I tried and I tried, but nothing seemed to change. Then that still, small voice whispered to me "You cannot clean your heart unless you truly give your complete heart to God." Well I thought I was, but to be honest I wasn't. I held back certain areas of my heart. I tried to hide them and not deal with the real issues at hand. Listen to be totally honest with here, being honest with ourselves about ourselves is one of the hardest things to do. Oh it's easy to be honest about someones heart issues, but when we start really searching our own heart, it can be scary.
By surrendering my complete, whole heart to God is the only way to create a clean heart. Foolishly I thought I could trick God into thinking I was giving Him my whole heart. But I realized, through the Holy Spirit, that I had to go into the desert like Jesus did. I had to get real with myself and deal with issues I had buried for years. I had to be honest with myself. God already knew the truth about me. He knew what I was trying to hide and had already forgiven me, but until I dealt with it myself and forgave myself and the others who offended me, my heart would still be unclean. Oh this wasn't easy but it was so worth it! Many times I cried out to God in the wilderness of my heart and because I did, He started working on my heart. He began preparing me and my heart for more of Jesus.
Isaiah 40:3-5 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."
Because I gave God complete access to my heart, He exalted the low periods of my life. He moved mountains that was keeping me from His best. He straightened my path and smoothed every bump and pothole that kept me far from His glory. Preparing for Christmas has very little to do with baking and shopping and wrapping. It has everything to do with yielding my heart to God so that He can clean the sin from my heart and reveal to me the light of Jesus Christ's birth. I am preparing my heart for my Savior, Jesus Christ. That means no more harsh words or criticism. No more anger and bitterness. No more grudges and hate. No more judgement and condemnation. No more whining or complaining. No more words that hurt others. From the mouth, the heart speaks; so lets start watching what we say and let the love of Jesus Christ pour forth from our lips and our heart.
Lord as we continue to prepare for this celebration of Jesus's birth, clean our hearts. Help us to truly surrender our hearts to you so that our words and actions may exhibit the love of our Savior, in Jesus name I pray, amen!
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