prepare

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” (Luke 3:4)

Prepare is an interesting word.  It usually conjures up images of running around in a million directions, trying to get all of your ducks in a row.  But if you break it down, the word prepare might just mean something different than what we think.  The first part, pre, obviously means beforehand.  And then pare means to remove or reduce by cutting; to diminish or decrease.  So rather than creating a long list of what needs to be done, it’s actually more about reducing things to what is most important.  It involves being focused on the one thing, rather than being distracted by the many things.  It involves living life in a certain way, rather than doing a whole bunch of random things.  It involves living in a state of perpetual preparedness in which the things that we do naturally and organically flow out of what God is doing within us.   

That definitely seems to be the kind of preparedness that’s called for during the season of Advent.  A preparedness that involves cutting more things out, rather than adding more things on.  A preparedness that involves sitting at his feet and listening to what he has to say, instead of running around like a crazy person, trying to get things done.  A preparedness that involves doing less, rather than doing more.  A preparedness that is more about subtraction, than it is addition.

Which begs the question: What do I need to cut out in order to be prepared for His coming?