Are you preparing?...
Are you waiting expectantly?...
We should be... It's Advent.
He came 2000 years ago... He's coming again!
While we know when we celebrate the coming of our Savior as the infant King, we do not know when Jesus Christ will return again as the Savior of all who call him such.
There is so much to do as we prepare for this season of Christmas... we purchase gifts for our loved ones, we bake cookies and treats, we watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol" and "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown," we listen to and sing Christmas carols, we don our homes with lights and trees and nativity scenes, we send cards to friends and family to let them know we haven't fallen off the edge of the planet, we go to church and help out with service projects and giving trees for folks in our community... These are ALL wonderful things and important parts of the Christmas season. Doing these things help us get into the Christmas spirit, for sure.
More importantly, as believers, we all know that our focus ought to be on Christ during this time of preparation... remembering how the promise of a Savior was to come as a child, a human, born where the animals take shelter... Born to save us. We ought to take this time before Christmas to prepare our hearts for the coming of the King... not just as the infant 2000 years ago, but as the triumphant, victorious King of kings... Who will come to reclaim His creation and all of those who believe.
If you're anything like me, you might not find yourself fully prepared at any given moment for the return of Jesus Christ. We don't know when it will be, but we should be prepared nonetheless. It's much easier to prepare for a few days at the end of the calendar year than it is for a time that will come when we least expect it... all the more reason to be prepared, eh?
If nothing else, Christmas is a great time to be reminded that we need to be prepared and watchful at all times... join me in December 2011 as well as all of 2012 to prepare... and wait expectantly!
Matt
