Today's scriptures make clear that the only adequate preparation for Christ's coming one is a radical turning away from all complacency. We may not take Christ's coming and presence for granted. He came into our world and our lives with Spirit and fire. Do our lives show any sign of that Spirit? Would He recognize in our lives any signs that He had already been made welcome, that we had already come to know Him?

Today's scripture gives a powerful suggestion of what our lives should be like. The gift of the Spirit should make us people of real reverence for God, people of wisdom gained from following His way. We ought to be people who don't pass swift and superficial judgement on others; being concerned actively for the downtrodden and the poor. We ought to make peace between enemies, and be ready to give up our own rights and privileges for the sake of the weak, for the sake of harmony in the community.

Facing such a formidable challenge we might begin to feel like total failures, as if we had no hope of ever welcoming Christ properly. However, our faith reminds us that we are not just followers of the Baptist and his call to repent; we are also recipients of the Good News of Christ who came to the undeserving and who now asks us to rely on Him in "producing the fruits of repentance".