There is a great amount of expectancy and preparation involved in the weeks leading up to Christmas. In fact, this season has earned its own name: Advent. The word "advent" is defined as the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. We all look forward to giving and receiving gifts, spending time with loved ones, and eating Christmas dinner. But above all we should be looking forward to God's gift. The most notable Christmas arrival is that of our Savior: Jesus Christ.
During Christmas we celebrate and remember Christ's coming to earth as an infant. But advent is also a foreshadowing of His promised second coming--"They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:30). In the midst of practical preparations like buying and wrapping presents, baking cookies, and celebrating with family and friends, how are we preparing spiritually? Are we taking heed, as the carol exhorts, to "let every heart prepare Him room"? Are we ready to receive God's great blessing, both presently and on the day of His glorious return?
In considering what it looks like to be spiritually prepared for the Lord's blessing, I want to look back...back before a supernatural star, singing angels, shepherds, and a baby in a manger. Back before Mary and Joseph, Herod, and the wise men from the east. Back to the time of the prophet Elisha, a time when God's people were divided by civil war, a time when idolatry was rampant and the one true God was all but forgotten.
In Second Kings chapters three and four we find two stories. In the first, the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom have united to make war against a common enemy. But they find themselves in a bit of a sticky situation--as they are marching through the desert to attack, their water supply is exhausted. How can they hope to defeat their enemy with a company of thirsty, near-dead troops?
The second story is about the widow of a deceased prophet who left his wife and family in debt. The widow has no means to pay, and her husband's creditor is on his way to take her two sons as slaves. All she has is a little oil in a jar. How can she possibly hope to pay off the debt and keep her sons from slavery?
Both the kings and the widow turn to Elisha, the Lord's prophet, in the midst of their crises. And what does Elisha do? Does he miraculously produce water to quench the troops' thirst? Does he pull a sack full of silver out of thin air and hand it to the widow? No, he tells the kings and their men to dig ditches (2 Kings 3:16). And he tells the widow to go around to her neighbors and gather empty jars (2 Kings 4:3).
Elisha's instructions must have seemed like a cruel joke to both parties! "Dig ditches? After we just finished marching through the desert? We're already weary and parched!" "Gather empty jars? For what, to look a fool in front of my neighbors? I have nothing to fill them with!" But the work God required, no matter how tiresome or foolish it seemed, was essential preparation for His promised provision. Not only that, but this work was an essential expression of faith for God's anticipated blessing!
And so the kings and their armies filled the valley with ditches, and the widow filled her house with empty jars. The story goes that the valley flooded providing water for the men and their horses, and the widow's jar of oil poured and poured until all those empty jars were filled! More than that, the field of watery trenches confused the kings' enemies (who thought it was the blood of Israel's armies) and caused them to march right into their own destruction. And the widow's supply of oil was so great she not only paid off her husband's debt, but had enough leftover for her and her sons to live on!
So what can we take from all this? To prepare for the Lord's blessing, we must first acknowledge that we need Him. We cannot anticipate our blessed Savior if we haven't recognized Him as such! Are we aware just how desperate and impossible our situation is without Jesus Christ? Are we willing to lay down our pride and admit our wretchedness apart from Him? Can we say confidently, "Christ alone is my hope"?
Second, we see our ability to receive God's blessing depends on the work we put into preparing for it. Now, I do not mean we operate on works-based salvation--salvation is by grace through faith alone! What I mean is our capacity for joy at Christ's coming is proportional to the spiritual effort we put toward knowing Him here on earth. If we have not labored on our knees in prayer, if we have not dug deep in the Scriptures, if we have neglected to mature in our life with the Lord, we will be like shallow ditches. Like a few small jars. We will only hold so much.
And finally, these stories show us that our God blesses above and beyond what we expect! We may be weary from a long, hard day's work. We may be tired from a trying week of parenting. We may be distracted and discouraged and disinclined. But if we can continue to furrow the soil of our hearts by seeking God in fellowship and the Word, if we will keep filling our earthen vessels with praise and prayer, if we can remain faithful in the humbling and the unglamorous, God's promised blessings will overwhelm and overflow! He will let loose the divine floodwaters until we can hold no more!
So let every heart make Him room, and that more than once a year! Ask yourself this question: Do I truly understand my need for a Savior? Dig deep in preparation for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ--be ready, labor in love, seek, grow, persevere! And wait...wait in glorious expectation for that day when Christ comes to earth once again, that day of blessing beyond all measure!