It’s About Getting Things Ready for Him to Move in
What if you had a close family member that needed a place to live. You decided that you were going to let them move in with you. What would you need to do to get ready for them?
You would need to make some changes to accommodate them, but they’re worth it.
In Luke 3:1-6 John is telling us how to prepare for Jesus moving into our lives. We will need to make some changes…but He is worth it.
Preparation involves knowing and doing.
There’s a story from the Old West when some Apache Indians stole a paymaster’s safe from the calvary. They knew it contained precious gold that was valuable. They tried all sorts of things to open it. They beat it with tomahawks, drug it behind their horses, heated it in a fire, tried blasting it with gun powder and finally threw it off a cliff.
Despite their efforts, nothing worked, they finally gave up and left it behind.
Later the Army found it and in a few minutes the paymaster had it open using the combination.
What the Indians were unable to do with a huge effort and struggle, the paymaster did simply with a few twists of his wrist.
He was able to do this because he knew the combination.
We need to know the right combination to open ourselves up so that Jesus can move in.
This combination includes repentance and commitment to righteous living.
Repentance is reviewing one’s actions and regretting past wrongs and committing to actions that show and prove the change. Righteousness is the perfect holiness of Christ. It is an essential attribute to the character of God; quite literally meaning “One who is right”. Think of it as the polar opposite of sin.
Gift cards are popular at Christmas. The problem is that too often they never get used. Half of Americans have unused gift cards averaging $300 per household. There are billions of dollars of unused gift cards floating around out there.
What good is a gift if it goes unused?
We’ve been given the Gift, but we have to use it, or it’s no good.
Don’t let your gift go to waste. Open yourself up and prepare for Christ to move in.