There is one week to go before Christmas Day, what have you done to prepare for it? Have you posted your cards? Have you shopped and wrapped your presents? Are you preparing food for the day?
Maybe we have orders being delivered and we have to find room to put everything? But let us not forget that the most important preparation is to make our hearts ready to receive the light of Christ coming into the world. Our preparation is not only for Christmas but also for His second coming.
As Jesus said, ‘Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only’. Like the parable of the five wise virgins, we need to be ready at any time.
How long do we have to prepare? I remember from time to time, there were ‘prophets’ who claimed they knew the exact date of the end of the world, the day of Jesus’ second coming. People believed those ‘prophets’ and some of them hid in high mountains, sold their houses and lived in the most expensive hotel suites hoping that they could enjoy their lives before the day came. Of course this did not happen. We never know how long we have to wait.
Preparation is a process, a journey of hope and faith in which we learn to follow Jesus, holding in our hearts Christ’s light of love and compassion so that we remain ready for Him at any hour on any day.
Revd Paul Lau
