Are we ready to allow Him in to mold our hearts?

We live in the most distracting era in our human history. We are gripped by our hunger for more indulgences (entertainments, food, etc.), more information, and more choices; anything we desire we want it instantly at our fingertips. We think we are in control, but in fact, we are being controlled and tempted constantly by our thirst for pleasures, possessions, and power. Unfortunately, the secular world has successfully hijacked Christmas, this holy and meaningful time of the year and turned it into a crazy shopping spree.

Long before we enter into Advent, our calendar has started filling up with parties of all kinds. Many even suffer from the stresses that come from preparing for the parties, buying presents for everyone, etc. We leave no room and no present for the One who brought us the first Christmas. The world advocates a very different kind of preparation from what is preached in the Gospel, one that unfortunately brings about stresses and restlessness instead of peace; one that satisfies our senses instead of our hearts and souls.

Advent once again reminds us to prepare for the (second) coming of Jesus. The word “prepare” means “to make ready in advance” so that we have the right disposition to accept and respond to His coming. A simple test of how ready we are is to ask ourselves: am I in joyful anticipation for the coming of the Lord, or am I dreaded to think about His sudden return? The preparation of our hearts requires us to reflect and repent constantly so as to make changes to our lives. As a matter of fact, Jesus is never too far away and keeps knocking on the door of our hearts, begging for a place to stay. Are we ready to allow Him in to mold our hearts?

Just as we always demand an instantaneous satisfaction to our desires, we also demand instantaneous answers to our prayers. We demand God to be on call for our ever changing desires. How we hope our Lord to be on Whatsapp so that we can seek instantaneous responses from Him! Yet, to the gentle and consistent request of Jesus thirsting to dwell in our hearts, we cruelly make Him wait and deny Him access.

While our God “is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…” (2 Peter 3:9-10)

Let us pause for a moment during this busy Advent and Christmas season to level the uneven grounds in our hearts and straighten our priority to put Christ first and centre in our lives, so that as we wait for new heavens and a new earth, we will “be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:13-14)