Prepare Him Room

Every year it happens like clockwork on the day after Thanksgiving. I gather my vast collection of decorative pumpkins, autumnal-colored throw pillows, and fall candles to the kitchen table before carefully packing them in their neatly labeled boxes. I shove them back into the closet under the stairs and out comes a new batch of boxes with red lids: the Christmas decorations. The Santa hat goes on and so begins my favorite ritual of all: preparing my home for Christmas.

I methodically unpack one container at a time, finding the perfect place for each item before moving on to the next. My children hover like seagulls, impatient to see their best-loved blanket, book, or stuffed animal emerge from the boxes to make their annual debut. My husband gets to work assembling the nativity scene on the front lawn while I string garland around the front porch. Someone turns on the holiday music and the kids clear space in their bedrooms for their own little Christmas trees right in front of their windows. Before heading to our favorite Christmas tree lot across town I move the armchairs over a few feet to make room in the corner for the tree. On our way we hit up the Black Friday sales on poinsettias, snagging at least one for every room. By day’s end, we are snuggled together on the couch in our pajamas, basking in the glow of lights on our fresh new tree, and sipping hot chocolate in our holiday mugs. I love the view from my corner of the family room. From here I can take in the entire first floor, from kitchen to entryway to stairwell. Each nook and cranny has been touched with holiday spirit. From the snowflake-shaped coasters to the balsam-scented hand soap, our house is ready for Christmas.

While the initial decorating only takes a day, the preparation carries on all month long as the calendar fills to the brim with activities. The pantry needs stocking and the carpets need cleaning. Ornaments need repair and we could always use a few more lights on the house. The preparation seems to carry on right up until Christmas itself, the very day we’ve been preparing for. For the entire Advent season we’re in constant motion: wrapping, baking, cleaning, decorating, rushing, and DOING, all to get ready for Christmas. We’ve done all we can, on the outside at least. But what about on the inside? Have we prepared our hearts as much as our homes for Christmas?

I’ve been meditating on this very question all season long. As I think about all the ways I rearranged my furniture, packed up my off-season decor, and cleared space in the rooms of my home for Christmas, I’m reminded of the Christmas carol, “Joy to the World,” which begins with these famed words: Joy to the world, the Lord is come/ Let Earth receive her King/ Let every heart prepare Him room/ And heaven and nature sing. I love the visual these lyrics provide of a home, open to receiving the King as a guest coming to stay, and of a heart, making room for the King to reside.

What are the things in your heart that need to be pushed aside and put away to make room for the celebration of Jesus’ birth? For me, it’s things like materialism, distraction, indifference and a lack of joy. Much like the inns in Bethlehem that first Christmas night, these are things that consume my heart, crowding out any space for a Saviour.

This time of year I am inundated with marketing strategies designed to get me to buy just one more thing and take advantage of one more sale, or convince me to treat myself to a gift because I deserve it! It’s hard to resist such campaigns. As I wrap gifts I have to fight the voice inside that asks, “I wonder if I got enough?” My eight-year-old handed me an “updated” gift list which includes less than half of what I’d already purchased for him. I swore I was done with my shopping, but I’d sure love to fulfill his every wish. Maybe I could make one more trip to the store… I think to myself. Such materialism has no place at Christmas. Jesus’ birth was not celebrated with an abundance of gifts; He was the gift, a gift so priceless and unprecedented that it could be received not just by one, but by the world.

There are so many things competing for my attention during the holiday season too. My social media feed is filled with entertaining ads and my friends are all posting fun videos of their family traditions and Christmas performances. I get pulled into watching my favorite holiday movies or perusing the aisles of stores lined with delightful decor and treats. The to-do list is ever-growing as well: teacher gifts, class parties, mailing holiday cards, donations to drop off, etc. Every time I cross one thing off I add three more. My mind constantly wanders to all the unique offerings and demands of Christmas. I find myself looking everywhere but the stable for that holiday spirit. I haven’t quieted my soul enough to hear the Good News of Jesus’ birth. Like so many in Bethlehem that night, I’m so caught up in the din of distractions that I miss it. The draw of those distractions costs me dearly and they need to be pushed aside.

Not every family member is easy to shop for and not every family member is easy to be around (can I get an Amen?), but my indifference to whether my gifts please them or not, (or whether they even like me or not), is a heavy weight that pulls my attitude into the depths of bitterness. I stopped trying and soon I stopped caring too. This indifference steals my joy and needs to be packed up and shoved back into the closet under the stairs where it belongs. If I allow it to stay, compassion will have no room to reside. Compassion reminds me to turn my eyes off myself and onto my family, consider what they’ve endured, and who they are, and offer understanding. Jesus was a model of compassion throughout His life. He served others in love, often receiving nothing in return. He understood their flaws and He loved them anyway. It was with compassion He came and with compassion, He died to save us all. By His Holy Spirit, I can make room for compassion with a seat at my table this December.

This Christmas as we open the doors of our homes to receive family and friends, let’s receive our King too. As we make room in our house for guests, decorations, and new gifts, let’s make room in our hearts for our Savior. Let’s put away all the materialism, distractions, indifference, and anything else that keep us from kneeling before the manger and celebrating the newborn babe, the gift of salvation, Emmanuel. Let’s prepare Him room.