John is saying, you can t keep both. You only have enough food for one, so choose. Perhaps another way of looking at this is the story of the fellow who kept calling the highway department because he did not like the condition of the road out in front of his house. He called and called and finally the highway department said they would come out and do something. But, instead of repaving the road, they came out and put up signs that said Rough Road Ahead, and left.
Advent is about preparation.
Preparing the way of the Lord. It is not about doing that only in Church, putting on the purple, changing the music, doing some penitential things. It is about preparing ourselves. It is about going into our own wildernesses and finding the weird creature out there who is speaking truth. We have heard about this journey, and this person, and the words, but we have not made the journey.