Advent reminds us of His coming and prepares us for our going.

I pray you all had a blessed Thanksgiving. We now enter into another season in the calendar. The next holiday we celebrate en force is Christmas–a mere 27 days away. As such, today marks the beginning of a liturgical holy season known as Advent. Taken from a Latin word, it means awaiting, anticipation. This serves as a time where we calm our hearts and ready ourselves for the coming Christ-king.

Sadly, whenever I mentioned during the year on the 25 of each month, most respond with groaning. Groaning! Why? Rather than anticipate the celebration of God becoming flesh to rescue us from our sin and brokenness, we groan because of all that happens over the Christmas holidays: Christmas shopping, party preparation, school plays, church musicals, cooking, cleaning, and on and on. Rather than the beauty of resting in anticipation, we are bombarded with the racket of overscheduling ourselves. Thus, the Christmas season comes and goes with little reflection.

[Listen to the rest.]

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