NEWSFLASH:

Despite all the jinglely commercials, the glistening decorations, and the seasonal music playing on the radio…

IT IS NOT CHRISTMAS!

Not yet. The 12 days of Christmas start on December 25th.

This is the season of Advent. “Advent” means preparing. We are on the verge of something grand and wonderful that will soon happen. Like a bride who prepares for her wedding day, we are to prepare our hearts for Christ.

Okay, you say, I thought I did that when I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. Yes, you did. Just as the bride said, “Yes, I will” when her love asked her to marry him. And, as you proclaimed it at your baptism and asked the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, so the bride  and groom proclaim to the world, “I do” and take each other’s ring as a token of their vows of love, cherishing and fidelity.

But it doesn’t stop there. Each day, that husband and wife should renew their vow to each other. “Today, I again choose to keep fulfilling my promise to love, cherish and be faithful to you.” And perhaps, their upcoming anniversary serves as a reminder they should be doing that. So it is with Advent for the Christian.

We should daily renew our vow to Christ, because, let’s face it, we are tempted each and every day to slip back into the worldly view. We still need a Savior. We still need forgiveness, Like Paul, we still do the things we know we shouldn’t do.

Advent is a time of re-examination. It is a time to prepare, and perhaps repair, the manager of our souls in which Christ lays. The reminder that He came to earth in human form for our sake should spur us to look deep into our own lives and see if we are shining His light into the world just as that star shone that announced His birthing.

As Jesus humbled Himself to be born as an infant who dwelt in his mother’s womb, so we should be reminded that we are to humble ourselves so He can dwell in us – each and every day. We are now His light shining into the dark world- and has there ever been a time more dark than this secular age?

Advent is the time to rub the soot of the world off our lamps so they can again shine brightly as a beacon of hope, love and peace.

Matthew 5:16     In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.