Heart Prepared

As Christmas approaches, we find ourselves busy with the preparations for all the celebrations that come this time of year.  From baking cookies to rushing about buying presents for everyone on the list, we are busy and focused on preparing the house for Christmas. We fail to prepare our hearts to have room for Jesus at this time. Let’s take a look at a woman that had prepared her heart for a Savior long before Jesus was born.

Ever think about Rahab at Christmas? Yes, the prostitute that protected the slaves in Jericho and was saved when the walls fell. Why was it that the spies ended at her house and not someone else’s?  When you read Joshua 2, it becomes clear that everyone was on the lookout for Hebrews that might be checking out the city for attack. They were living in fear of what they had heard about the Hebrews over the past 40 years.

Yet, there was one person that was looking out for the spies for another reason.

… for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

Rahab not only had a change of heart to follow after the God of the Hebrews to the best that she can, the fact that she was drying flax on the roof during the harvest season show that she was wanting a life change too. She sought to make a better life by spinning and weaving the flax. She wanted a life that honored the Hebrew God. She was tired of being used in the name of Yerach the god that Jericho was the center of worship for.

She saw how God had taken care of the Hebrews for 40 years and the wonders that He did to keep them safe. Longing for that and to know more about their God, Rahab brought the spies into her house. Once she heard that the king was seeking them she hid them under the flax, lied to the men that they had left and the direction in which they went.

Like us, before we came to Christ,  Rahab had her flaws. She came to God just the way she was. Rahab had prepared her heart to have room for the only God. She sought for salvation not only for her but her family. By the scarlet cord that she hung out the window not only to let the spies down but her hope and trust that God will protect her and her family. Can you imagine what a sight that red cord down the outside of the outer wall of Jericho?  From a distance, it would look like a stream of blood running down the wall.

Little did Rahab know this God she sought to know had huge plans for her. He had placed her in the lineage of the Savior of the world. What the people of Jericho kept outside of the main wall considered poor and used by others became of value to God. She was part of His great plan. Yet when you look at it God chose to send His Son to be born in a poor and lowly manger. It was the outcast shepherds that He chose to first tell the good news to that salvation had come.

Rahab had prepared her heart for God to save her. Have you prepared your heart this season tho worship the Savior?