The Dawning of Advent Preparation
Monday’s Verse:
From Isaiah 40:3 ESV
A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Advent starts with a cry. Not our own cry, but God’s voice calling out in the wilderness. “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.”
This is not so much advice as a Gospel announcement. God is coming into the wilderness. He does not wait for the wilderness to make itself over. He comes into it.
The refrain from our Advent hymn “Prepare the Royal Highway” gets at this movement of grace. There is something so simple about its form, and something so simple, but so true, about its words: Christ comes to sinners. He comes to a world full of crooked ways and uneven ground and valleys of fear. He does not come demanding we be made over; He comes bringing the making over with Him.
John the Baptist was the incarnation of this cry, the one who pointed away from himself and toward Christ: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Advent preparation, therefore, is not frantic self-help but repentant expectation. To “prepare the way” is to acknowledge our own need. It is to let the Word do its work — to level our pride, to lift our despair, to straighten the crooked paths where we wander.
In the chanting back and forth of this refrain, we hear again and again the Gospel call: The Lord is coming. The Savior is coming for you.
Not because you have made the way straight, but because He is the Way (John 14:6). Christ comes to bring forgiveness into your wilderness, hope into your Advent waiting, and life where death has taken up residence.
So as the season dawns, take heart. Your preparation is not what saves you — the One who comes to you does.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Way who comes into our wilderness with mercy and peace. Prepare our hearts by Your Word, lead us to repentance, and fill us with joy as we await Your coming. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above was licensed through Unsplash+