Preparing the Way for Love

Are you preparing the way for the love of God? In what ways can we prepare ourselves for the love of God?

God’s love often looks differently than we might expect. We must trust God’s purposes and plan and prepare the way for the love of God in our lives.

Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus, prepared the way for God’s love in her life. This preparation for God’s love provided the way for the love of God in our own lives through Jesus’ advent. Because Mary prepared the way for God’s love, we can prepare the way for the love of God in our lives.

The Gospel of Luke tells us of the Angel Gabriel bringing God’s message of purpose and love to Mary. After Gabriel said to Mary, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” He told Mary that God was with her and had chosen her as the vessel of God’s coming love for his people in his son Jesus.

“Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. …For nothing will be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:34-38, ESV).

Mary’s posture was one of receptivity and preparation for God’s word and will for her life. Mary prepared the way for the love of God by willingly submitting to his love, saying, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

How can we prepare for the love of God in our lives? “How can these things be?” With God, all things are possible. The love of God is possible, and prepared for, through our receptivity and willing submission to God and his will for our lives. We can prepare the way for God’s love by having the posture of a receptive and expectant servant, saying to God, “let it be to me according to your word.”  

Like Mary, may we prepare for the purposes and love of God by humbly submitting to God’s will as his servants, saying with her, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

A Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Advent: Annunciation (O Emmanuel / O Come, Emmanuel): “Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and as we are sorely hindered by our sins from running the race that is set before us, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

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