A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Isaiah 40:3-5 (ESV)
When you invite a group of friends over for dinner, you do not just plan that evening; you also plan the day leading up to that evening, perhaps several days before as well. You look at how much cleaning needs to be done and make sure there is time enough to do it. You consider the people coming over and take their needs and preferences into account as you prepare the meal. Even the outside of our home is prepared. At my house, the grass tends to have two stages: freshly cut, and knee-high, so making sure to mow before guests arrive is one of my jobs.
So, when your guests arrive you don’t say, “No idea what we’re having, I figured we’d scrounge!” Your guests do not have to navigate around your dirty laundry strewn across the floor, nor do they knock over bottles covering the sink when they visit the bathroom. When your guests arrive, they find a home cleaned and made ready and a meal prepared in advance.
Let’s be honest—none of us have ever seen what each other’s house normally looks like on the inside. But all the cleaning and presentation of the home isn’t pretending; it’s consideration and respect. It says, “You are welcome, we have been preparing this place to receive you.” A good host prepares for their guests, and we take this role seriously for the people we love.
What if our guest was a king? Certainly, we would make all of the usual preparations, but we wouldn’t stop there. The inside of the house would be immaculate, perhaps we would take the opportunity to invest in some upgrades. Maybe we would finally get around to painting that one room. The outside of the house would be as clean as possible, the yard would look like something in a magazine.
Well, our King is coming. What are we doing to prepare? He has asked us to host him, and the prophet Isaiah calls the people of God to prepare the world itself for his arrival. Pull down mountains, fill in valleys—the King of the Universe will walk a straight and flat road into his kingdom.
Advent is about anticipation, but anticipation alone is not enough. Anticipating the inevitable should spur us to action. When Jesus came the first time, Israel was not ready. When he comes again, will we be ready? What are we doing to prepare our home for the ultimate Guest?
