Yesterday we celebrated the first day of Advent. A time of celebration for the coming Savior. It got me thinking about what the true meaning of Advent is. The word Advent means coming or arrival. So I did a little research and came about an interesting article about how Advent is not just the celebration of Jesus' birth but also of the anticipation of his second coming. I had never thought about Advent in such a way. To me Advent had always been just a celebration of a baby being born in a manger that came to save us all. It had never occurred to me to also be celebrating the idea of Jesus coming back to save us once again, or a "second Advent" as this article called it.
The second coming of our Messiah is something to anticipate, something to be ready for. The Bible tells us that we will not know when it is coming so we must always be prepared. However, in our humanness, we often fail to be ready for God to come and rule justly over the Earth and his people. We live in a time in between Advents. A time that as Christians we were given the challenge to go into the world and make disciples for God.
The longer I think about this celebration of Advent and preparation of the celebration of both the birth of Jesus and the second coming, I am looking at what I am doing to be as prepared as possible. How am I serving God to the best of my abilities so that when it is my turn to leave the Earth or when the final ruling comes that I can show God exactly what I have done to better his creation. I can honestly say it is not anything I have ever thought about in this season of Advent before. And is something that I challenge you all to do this week. As we prepare in this great season of celebration, I challenge you all to not get so wrapped up in the commercialism, the business, the finals, and the celebration that you forget to examine what you are truly doing to make this a better place, a place that when it comes judgement day that you are proud to say that you are ready for a great celebration at the end of this Advent season. Thoughts?
I can honestly say that if He were to come again today, I would not be prepared. I am guilty of getting wrapped up in finals and other things, and have not readied myself at all. I accept your challenge this week to slow down and think about what I have done and what I can do to prepare myself and others for Him.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and being honest Jayden. I think this is something that we are all guilty of, I know that I am. So I think a reminder to evaluate where we are and what we are doing is healthy as long as we take our findings and apply it to do better in the future.
DeleteI definitely agree with what Jayden said. I can get very wrapped up in school and finals that I tend to put my relationship with God on the back burner. I think it is important to remember that we are very fortunate to even get to attend college. Every "burden" that we face in college is actually a gift in disguise. I think this challenge is a good one. I definitely need a push to actually reflect on my relationship with God and find ways to strengthen it. I also need to really work on making my footprints on this earth positive ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dayna for sharing and your honesty. I think that you have hit the nail on the head, often when we are struggling with what life has presented us, we need to remember to be thankful and to use that struggle to bring us closer to God, not to push him farther away. Keep your mind open to the possibilities that are before you to make those positive footprints and they will present themselves.
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