Last year I began to notice Christmas trees going up in windows earlier than normal, some in our neighborhood even before Halloween. Christmas lights were getting plugged in before Thanksgiving. Wreaths appeared on doors in anticipation not of fall holidays but skipping right on over those to get to Christmas. I’m not sure this should have been surprising. We, at that point, had been dealing with the weight of COVID-19 for seven months. Death tolls were high, lives were disrupted and uncertain, tensions of unresolved racism had come to a head, and division was more palpable than at any other point in my lifetime. No wonder we sought beauty. No wonder we wanted familiar traditions. No wonder we were hungry for things that remind us of love, hope, and family. We were ready for Christmas! It couldn’t get here soon enough.

And here we are a year later. Things are still uncertain, exhaustion has been described as the new pandemic as we continue to navigate COVID-19, and there is still trouble all around. What should we do? Let’s get ready for Christmas!

This isn’t a call to put the tree up sooner this year, but it is an invitation. That’s what Advent really is, after all. It is an invitation to be prepared for Christmas when it arrives. Not prepared with the right shopping list for holiday feasts, or the perfect gift under the tree, or the best playlist of Christmas songs—but prepared for what the coming of the Messiah means. All our preparation for the holidays will be lacking if we aren’t prepared for what they are really about. And what is Christmas about? We celebrate Christmas because Jesus Christ came into the world, took on flesh, and was willing to experience all we have experienced in order to show us true life through his life, death, and resurrection. To experience all that Christmas is meant to be, we have to be prepared for it.

That’s why a simple daily devotional book can be a tool for us to be really ready for Christmas. Taking time each day before the grand celebration to slow down, reflect, and listen can transform the holidays into a season of spiritual formation. If all we are doing is getting ready for our parties and our traditions and our events, we will be too busy and too fragmented to embrace the Christ child. And don’t we need to embrace the Christ child? The Prince of peace? The Savior of the world? Don’t we need to look deeply into the familiar story and see the hope people on the margins found, that God chose to partner with a humble virgin, that the kingdom of God breaks forth in surprising ways, and to and through surprising people? I think we do.

Don’t we need to look deeply into the familiar story and see the hope people on the margins found, that God chose to partner with a humble virgin, that the kingdom of God breaks forth in surprising ways, and to and through surprising people? I think we do.

It doesn’t matter to me when you start listening to your favorite Christmas music. I don’t care if you put your tree up before or after a certain day this year. If you put lights on your house, all I ask is that you be careful because that can be dangerous! You see, I feel like Christmas can’t get here soon enough. I need the love, the hope, and the family it represents. But more than that, I need the reminder of the Christ child who came and is coming again. I want to be prepared to embrace him anew. So let’s get ready for Christmas together—whether we’re peasants or kings—all of us. Let’s be really ready for Christmas and for all that it means.

Olivia Metcalf is the author of this year’s Advent devotional, Come Peasant, King. A downloadable Pastor’s Resource, as well as youth and children’s resources are also available.