Preparing The Way At Christmas

II. Preparing our Hearts by Receiving his Gift

Thus far, we have talked about repentance and seeking forgiveness from God. John’s message for us doesn’t stop there. There is a Hebrew word for repentance, nichum, which comes from the Hebrew root word, nacham, meaning, to blow out all of your air, to breathe strongly; by implication, to be sorry.

We have each experienced this, we call it a sigh. When we are on the bottom of the world in regret we face this experience. We blow out our air, our shoulders drop, our heads hang low, as we say, “my God how I have failed you.” Have you been there? I know that I sure have.

The good news that I have is that God will not leave us empty or alone! As that breath of repentance blows out God has another wind that will replace it! Did you know that the word for Spirit in Greek is Pneuma, means wind or breath. We get our word pneumonia from it. And, this is something that John is telling us about hand in hand with repentance.

Not only is this Good News of Christmas about the forgiveness of sin, and the preparation of our hearts with joy for the journey, but also about a wind that will fill our sails as we follow Jesus in the way, preparing the way for others.

Jesus is our Lord and Savior. As savior, he forgives us our sins. As Lord, he will fill us with his Holy Spirit and empower us to empower others for the journey.

MK 1:9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

III. We can Prepare the Way this Christmas too.

What a message for the world today! But don’t think that this message is not going to be met with resistance.

If we continued in Mark, we would see that right after this Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness where the tempter awaits. And, I would say to you, as you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, or as you step out for him in a new way, look for it to be met with resistance by the enemy. Satan is a defeated foe, but, he is also the puppeteer of Godless people, and the tempter of Godly people.

This Jesus is continually coming into the world bringing his Kingdom, and the salvation that only he offers, and his Kingdom is at odds with the world.

Christmas is a special time, a time when hearts are being opened for the reception of Christ. Old grudges are set aside. Old wounds are healed. Joy replaces bitterness. People begin to think of others rather than just themselves. We, as his disciples have a responsibility in preparing the way.

I sometimes feel like one crying in the wilderness to a world at odds with Jesus.

They are tearing down the road signs. If the sign says Christ, the old devil is going to try to tear it down. The devil is evil, not stupid. If he is convincing enough to cause a third of the angels of heaven to follow him, then his arguments for silencing that word that he hates so badly is going to be cleaver as well.

People in the world today have started using CE rather than AD. Why, because Anno Domini means “year of our Lord.” And, Lord is a word that Satan hates. Hey, if they want to change the name of our dating system and take Christ out of it, let them come up with their own numbering system as well. But we just roll over and play dumb as that which is Christian is stolen. We are to prepare the way!