In the Bible reading, we hear the prophets John the Baptist and Isaiah have an unusual way of asking us to prepare for Jesus. They say, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord. Make the road straight for him.’
We are talking about us clearing away the thoughts and behaviour that might prevent us from welcoming Jesus into our hearts at Christmas.
Because Jesus wants to be close to us, to live in our hearts, John and Isaiah encouraged the people, and encourage us, to make the path to our hearts smooth, so that Jesus can reach us easily. Let’s think about
how we can do this. We need to say sorry to the people we’ve upset, forgive, make peace, and try to learn from our mistakes.
This is the way the prophets John and Isaiah want us to prepare a smooth path for Jesus: by being sorry, by making peace, by changing our wrong behaviours, and by learning from mistakes.
Let’s pray for the courage to do so this week.