preparing hearts

Wednesday, December 5, 2012 (5:29 a.m.)

Living, Loving Father God,

You sent Your Son to save us. This is the time of year we are supposed to be preparing to remember that. I keep forgetting to prepare.

Even as I consider preparing our home and hearts, I turn to Your Word and am surprised. And willing, as well. I thought we'd be exploring the Advent of Your Son. Instead I'm reading of a day a month before the angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (Luke 1:26-38).

It was the day (Luke 1:8) when Zacharias was going about his work in the Temple and an angel appeared (v.11) sharing Your declaration to Malachi (4:5-6) with him.

After telling him not to be afraid and calling him by name, Gabriel went on to tell Zacharias of the son who would be born to his wife Elizabeth and they were to name John (v.13). He told of the “great joy and gladness at his birth” (14) and John's being “one of the Lord's great men... filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth!” (15).

It's verse 17 that mirrors Your conversation with Malachi (4:5-6) over four hundred years earlier. “He [John] will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

Most blessed Father God, I ask You to use Your Word in me today. As we prepare our hearts, as well as our home, for the Advent of Your Son's birth let us remember well the lessons of his cousin John's ministry. The Life Recovery Bible says this, “His message called for personal repentance and the restoration of broken family relationships.”

Wherever that needs to happen, I ask You Dearest Father to be at work. Preparing (and repairing) our hearts. You are so incredibly good and we are so very grateful. Thank You Father. I love You. Amen.

(342 words ~ 7:21 a.m.)