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photo: © SWDD - Fotolia.com

photo: © SWDD – Fotolia.com

This is the second week of the Advent candle.  This will be another purple candle.  As you can see, it is the Candle of Preparation or the Bethlehem Candle.

Last week, we talked about the Prophecy Candle or the Candle of Hope.  It reminds us that even when things look hopeless, GOD is faithfully keeping His promises in His time.

This week, we are reminded to prepare for the Christ child…especially in our hearts.  The Scripture for this week is the following:

He (John the Baptist) went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
 Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

Luke 3:3-6

 

So, it looks like the way we prepare our hearts is to repent and come to GOD for forgiveness.  We need to change the direction we are going and bow before GOD realizing our salvation comes from Him, not from our good works.

This week, we light our Preparation candle and in the process, we repent of going our way and turn to Christ…accepting the salvation He has provided for us freely as a gift.

Is your heart prepared for Christ in the way He describes?  Instead of focusing on gifts and all the preoccupations of this season, we may need to pause for time to prepare our hearts for Christ’s rule.