Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Monday, November 28
By Ann Reego
Are You Prepared?
Read Matthew 3:3
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, and make straight paths for him.’”
It seems that once October appeared on our calendars, the holidays just blended together into one changing grocery aisle – from orange and black candy with lots of chocolate, to shelves filled with canned pumpkin and cranberry sauce, and now to red and green in every kind of candy imaginable. The elections are over and the commercials have abandoned politicians for ads for toys, colognes, bikes and sweaters; all proclaiming great prices and “once in a lifetime” sales.
The dictionary defines Advent as arrival, appearance, emergence, materialization, surfacing, occurrence, dawn, origin, birth, rise, development, approach, coming, looming, nearing, and advance. With the antonyms being departure or disappearance.
With the emergence of the holidays in October, and the arrival of fall, the earth develops from green to vibrant colors of red and gold, an occurrence of nature because of cooler, longer nights. Every dawn brings new and stunning views. We enjoy rides into the mountains, and the advancing cooler days and colder nights make us head to the fire pits for s’mores.
And now most of the trees are bare and in the approaching days we see that winter is looming and the green on our lawns will not surface until Lent or Easter. We have developed a materialized culture that is easy to join as Christmas Day draws near and makes many forget the origin of the holiday. Let us look more to the coming appearance of the Christ Child, who gave rise to our faith. His birth changed the world and He will never depart us or disappear.
During Advent, Church Street UMC gives us many opportunities to deepen our faith. I hope you will take advantage of these events and your hearts will fill with the true meaning of the season.
Prayer
Oh gracious Savior, we are prone to becoming caught up in the ways of man. Help us to savor and appreciate this Advent season. Bring us to Christmas Eve, eagerly awaiting your birth. In your name, Amen.
