Here is where I lay it down/ Every burden, every crown / This is my surrender / I will make room for you / To do whatever you want to / to do whatever you want to / Shake up the ground of all my tradition / Break up the walls of all my religion / Your way is better” we sing the words of “Make Room” along with Kim Walker-Smith.[1]
Mark and I have been convicted to live fully surrendered to Christ. We must make room for Jesus in every dimension of our lives. We were reminded that in the Old Testament a single lamb was required per family. We pray for our children and grandchildren, covering them in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus. We pray for our enemies and those who have spoken against us. We pray for Open Heavens in order to receive all that the good Father has for us. Our hearts’ desire is to live in such a way that our hearts and hands are extended to receive season by season. We have a sense that our current spiritual season is waning, and we’re on the cusp of a new one. Will we finish well to be launched fruitfully?
In the Christian calendar, we are approaching the Christmas season. It’s all too easy for me to become jaded by the commercialism of Christmas, the expectation to give, and the obligatory festivities—in other words, to get stuck on traditions and not see with Kingdom vision. However, December and the anticipation of my favorite holiday have always been a highlight in my year. When I was growing up, my mother baked fragrant Norwegian bread and tasty cookies. My father cut down a fresh, aromatic cedar tree each year, which we decorated with heirloom lights and cherished ornaments. Mom played Christmas carols on her piano, and we joyfully sang with her, “Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.” We marveled at the three kings of Orient who had journeyed from afar to bring gifts to an unknown child.
Day by day, my siblings and I opened the little windows in our Advent calendar, knowing the story well yet reliving it door by door. Stockings were hung with care and anticipation. My sister and I always knew to expect books and a place setting of silverware for our hope chests in our stockings.
It was a delight to celebrate the season, but I think I associated the season with the traditions of Christmas more so than with the miraculous birth itself. The tree. The food. The carols. The cards and gifts. And finally … baby Jesus.
Leaving home, launching out on my own, and later marrying, I carried some traditions forward—always a real tree, baked goods, stockings, and gifts. Some years, I faithfully celebrated Advent; others it just didn’t happen. I was turned off by online commercials and stores displaying stockings and trees before Thanksgiving. We gave gifts because of the holiday—more from tradition than from a desire to simply give. I lost the excitement and joy of the Christmas season, which was intended to be centered on God, who gave His only Son as the most perfect, costly, greatest-possible gift to humanity. “Joy to the World, the Lord is come / Let Earth receive her King / Let every heart prepare Him room / And heaven and nature sing.”
How do I break up the walls of religion and tradition to prepare my heart to receive the King this season?” I have been reading God is Good by Bill Johnson which is bringing transformational understanding to my heart and mind.[2] Psalm 100.5 tells us, “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever.”[3] In Psalm 34.8, the psalmist exhorts, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
We serve an incredibly good and generous God. He takes great delight in giving to His sons and daughters. Starting with Jesus, the perfect Lamb who takes away my sin, who meets my every need according to His riches (Philippians 4.19), who prepares a home for us in eternity, He gives me hope and a future. I embrace and understand how essential it is to live with a Kingdom understanding of my good Father’s heart—to extend my hands to give, yet also to humbly receive with gratitude. I prepare my heart by accepting my Father’s goodness, His generosity. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus broke bread and gave. He took the cup and gave. I choose to receive this gift of incomparable goodness.
I would like this Advent season to be the most memorable yet. Beyond the fragrant tree, sparkling lights, stockings, and delicious kitchen morsels, it will be glorious. Glorious because I set aside every burden, all tradition, and come before the good Father with expectation like a child. Wide-eyed in wonder with hands gripped in joyful anticipation of what each paper-wrapped box or gift bag contains, I look forward to each encounter and opportunity. I will look beyond myself with the eyes of Christ, to see how I can live fruitfully, imparting my Father’s goodness. Who needs a meal, an unexpected hug, a bonus pair of earrings? Unto us this day, a long awaited Savior has been born. Charles Wesley articulated it best, “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus / Born to set Thy people free / From our fears and sins release us / Let us find our rest in Thee.”[4] I lift my hands before the King, the good Father, to make room to receive and to worship with joy and gratitude.
[1] If you haven’t already, I recommend listening to Kim Walker-Smith’s song “Make Room” from Official Life Worship Recording.
[2] Bill Johnson’s God is Good was written in 2018 before his wife died of breast cancer.
[3] This and all other scriptures quoted were taken from the English Standard Version.
[4] Charles Wesley, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.” Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord, 1744.
The featured image, “Christmas Eve,” is courtesy of Lancia E. Smith and used with her glad permission for Cultivating.
Mary has cherished life-long literary dreams coupled with a passion for ministry, all of which lead her to study English literature and later theology and counseling in seminary. She has been designing artisan jewelry for 15 years. After 14 years of ministry in San Diego she and her husband Mark Miller, along with their teenagers and cat, Lord Peter Wimsey relocated to Charlottesville, VA where they enjoy farm life, raising angus beef, 40+ chickens and a thriving garden. Mary enjoys off-the-wall humor, gardening, cooking, and curling up with anything penned by Dorothy Sayers, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, or Jane Austen. She and her husband Mark serve in ministry with RiverStone Church.
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