Have You Prepared Room In Your Heart This Christmas?

My eyes opened to the darkness of the room. It was the middle of the night and, once again, I was wide awake. It was a common occurrence; because of my age or because it was 2020, who’s to say?

Thoughts In The Middle Of The Night

And as was typical, my thoughts started racing, jumping from one subject matter to another, one song to another. Maybe you can relate.

On this particular night, after a day of decorating my home for Christmas, my thoughts turned to God, sitting on his throne in heaven. I wondered if He sat on his throne, observing his children scurrying around like kitchen mice, preparing for the celebration of His son’s birth. Did He observe the hours spent putting up trees with lights and ornaments and placing decorations around the house? Did He watch as we strung thousands of lights on our houses? Did He ponder our running around from shop to shop, or spending hours in front of a computer screen, to find that perfect gift for someone? Was He sad, angry, ambivalent?

The words of a Christmas carol came to mind. “Let every heart prepare Him room”

Joy to the World

If you’re a fan of traditional Christmas Carols, you will recognize the line from “Joy To The World”. It was written in 1719 by Englishman Isaac Watts and it is one of the most published Christmas Carols in America. It is based on Psalm 98, Psalm 96 and Genesis chapter 3. It’s actually more about the second coming of Christ than his birth. You can read more about it here and here.

As I thought about that one particular line of the song, I wondered, am I preparing Him room in my heart this Christmas? The Christmas decorations are fine, getting together with family and friends is great (as long as we’re wise and safe about it this year) and there’s nothing wrong with giving gifts to the people you love. But, the most important thing, the crucial thing is that we have prepared room in our hearts for the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, Christmas would be meaningless.

Is There Room in Your Heart?

How about you? Have you prepared your heart for Him? In some ways, I think it is a little easier this year with things scaled back due to the pandemic. What do you think?