Inspired by . . . Advent: prepare Him room

Inspired by . . . Advent: prepare Him room

Joy to the world! the Lord is come: let earth receive her King.

Let every heart prepare Him room,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

I can remember the first time I heard this song. I mean, really heard it; with my spiritual ears.

Let every heart prepare Him room,

I love the hymns because they speak Truth and are grounded in theology. Few churches even sing them anymore . . . except at Christmastime. When we do sing them, I often look around and wonder, "Do they hear what they're singing? Does it even register? Do they believe it?"

Imagine what our world would be like if every heart prepared Him room?

That's part of what Advent is; a time of preparation.

So how do we prepare our hearts for Jesus? It's a little bit like preparing the ground for seed.

We want our hearts to be tender toward Him, free of the sin that entangles us. Repent. We want our hearts to be fertilized by His Word, ready to receive. Read.  Most of all, we want to be awake to His presence. Receive.

Being awake and receptive to His presence often means that we have to clear some of the noise out of our lives. While fasting is typically associated with Lent, Advent was often a time of fasting as well.

This year part of my preparation is going to be fasting from the busyness of the season. I'm going to purposefully slow down and savor each moment. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Laura Boggess' book, Playdates with God:

Every moment is sacred when you pay attention to it.

I cannot be reminded of this enough. The Sacred is here with each of us right this very moment. No matter what you're doing. Immanuel is God with us.

The world would not have us see or experience this truth. The enemy will always try to make secular the sacred.

But when we shut out the noise, when we purposefully pause and open our eyes, our hearts to Him - in that moment we will know . . .

the wonders of His love, and wonders of His love,

and wonders, wonders of His love.

Blessings,

Sharing inspiration here:
Small Wonders, Testimony Tuesday, #TellHisStory,
Thought Provoking Thursday, Grace & Truth,
Inspire Me Monday, RaRa Link Up, Intentional Tuesday,
#WordswithWinter, Titus 2 Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursdays,
Encourage Me Monday, Wholehearted Wednesday,
Women with Intention Wednesdays, Word Filled Wednesday,
#GiveMeGrace, Sitting Among Friends, #Glimpsesofhisbeauty