Prepare
By the time you receive this edition of the Wicket Gate, I’m sure some of you will have begun to prepare for Christmas. That’s the word that I want you to think about.
Prepare. It means to get ready, and, I’m sure that as Christmas draws near you will have lots of things to prepare and get ready.
Presents for your mummies and daddies, and maybe for some of your friends. Cards that you are going to send, and, for some of the girls anyway, dresses that you are going to wear at your parties. Perhaps, even, some of you will be preparing to “welcome home” a brother or a sister who has been away from home working or studying in some other town or city, or country even.
Many, many years ago, around the time that we now call Christmas, some men and women had begun to prepare for a special event, as well. It was the day when our Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world as a baby in Bethlehem’s manger to become the Saviour of men and women, and boys and girls. These people – the shepherds, the Wise Men, Joseph, Mary, Simeon, and many others – had begun to prepare because they had read their Bibles and they knew that Jesus was, indeed going to be born at the time when God had said.
How happy they were when Jesus came and they were prepared to welcome Him. Many others, of course, were not prepared to welcome Jesus. Oh, they may have heard that He was to come and be born the King of Kings, but they just didn’t believe it. And so, of course they didn’t prepare themselves for His coming.
Now, the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. What does that mean? you say. Well, it means that just as Jesus came once to this world, so He is going to come again to this world. He won’t come as a babe this time, but He will come as the ruler of all the earth. And, says the Bible, when He does come again, there will be some who will be prepared to meet Him, but there will be others who will not be prepared.
As you prepare for Christmas, remember how important it is to prepare for that day when Jesus will come again.