Advent - Day 1

This Advent season, I will be working through the book "Meet Him at the Manger", by Stuart and Jill Briscoe. Each day for the next 25 days, I will be blogging my thoughts and takeaways from each day’s Scripture reading and devotional. I hope you'll join me for this very special time of the year.

Disclaimer: I am fully aware of the controversy surrounding the actual date of Christ’s birth, and the fact that some Believers choose not to celebrate Christmas at all.

I, however, believe that the birth of our Saviour was too important an historical event to not celebrate it, and so my family and I do.

If you have a different view, I respect your opinion, but am not willing to debate my beliefs on this matter here. I kindly request that if you disagree with my blogging about Advent, you scroll on by.

Today’s passage of Scripture is Luke 2: 11 - 12 ...

"The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

It's so easy - even for those of us with the best of intentions to celebrate "the reason for the season" - to get caught up in the whirlwind that is December.

On the one hand, we can find ourselves trapped in the the spend/decorate/travel/do mindset that is so prevalent in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Or, on the other end of the spectrum, we might find ourselves feeling jaded and worn by the frenzy and opting to do as little as possible to just survive through to the 26th, so that we can get Christmas over and done with.

This is is precisely why I find the celebration of the season of Advent so important for myself, as a Follower of Christ. Celebrating Advent - the time and process of thinking through the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, and the Gospel accounts of his birth, and life, and death, and resurrection - helps us keep the significance of "the festive season" in focus, rather than getting carried away by the advertising and the rush of activities. At the same time, celebrating Advent helps us not to allow the festivities become meaningless and repetitive, because we remember to prepare our hearts to welcome Jesus into the world and into our lives afresh each year!!

I love the way the Briscoes end off today’s devotional: "So while we will no doubt be caught up in all the hurried activity of the Christmas season, let us also take time this Advent to prepare our hearts to welcome once again the God who laid aside His glory and assumed our humanity because of His great love for us. There are few truths in this world that can be more wonderful, more startling, more exciting than this."

If you're joining me on this Advent journey, please share your thoughts in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you.