As we enter the season of Advent, we’re reminded of one familiar theme: prepare. We know how to prepare for Christmas—wrapping gifts, decorating, baking, hosting. But preparing for Advent is something deeper.

In this Jolt of Faith, we reflect on how Advent invites us to “tidy up” not our homes, but our hearts. It’s a time to clear out impatience, resentment, anger, selfishness, and pride—anything that crowds out space for Jesus.

Jolt of Faith – Full Text
Advent Starts with Tidying Up — On the Inside | Jolt of Faith 12/4

As we begin the season of Advent. Once again a common theme is to prepare. It often strikes me, we know how to prepare for the day of Christmas in the Christmas season, we know to wrap, and to shop and to decorate and to bake and all the things we got to get done. But how do we prepare for Advent? That’s actually a harder question, but in some ways, it’s kind of the same way we prepare for all the Christmas festivities. One of the things we do to prepare for people coming over our house for Christmas is clean. We clean things up. We tidy things up, for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So things. look neat for our guests. Advent is also a time to tidy up but not my exterior world, my interior world. To tidy up my heart to make more room for Jesus. Maybe it’s a great time to confront that bad habit, like being impatient, or cursing, or maybe it’s a time to tidy up letting go of some of those resentments that anger that selfishness that pride I’m holding on to. Whatever it may be Advent is a great time to focus on tidying up my heart, to make it more ready and more hospitable and open for the Lord, as we look to prepare for Advent, sometimes it’s not as hard as you make it out, to be. One great way to focus on is what can I do to change my heart? To make it more appealing, more open more ready for the gift of Christ. Not a sermon, not a homily just that little Jolt of Faith for all of us.