The Day After Advent
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The Advent season seems to be more meaningful every year as God reveals more and more the wonder of what He did in coming to this fallen, corrupted, and doomed world. Becoming a man, lived a life of total obedience to the Father’s will in sinless perfection, and lived to be a perfect sacrifice to redeem this world. In paticular, He came and revealed Himself to me; a fallen, sinful, doomed soul and chose to save me despite the fact that by my actions I could merit no favor.
I can’t imagine the splendor of the heavenly hosts that the sheperds saw. The wonder of wise men who travelled from the East to a small town, to a stable where they would behold the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and pay homage. These things are beyond my minds eye can fathom.
I was just sitting here thinking: “What about the day after Advent?”
The angels are no longer lighting up the heavens, the sound of angel song ceases, and now all that the sheperds hear is the bleating of sheep.
The wise men begin their trip back home, but their thoughts travel back to a stable in Bethlehem and questions of: “Did we truly see the King of the Jews? Did we follow the right star? Why is a king lying in a manger?” begin to dance in their heads.
Did Advent come and open your heart and mind with wonder and fill your heart with hope? What about the day after Advent? Once you were feeling the joy of spending time with family and now you are saying goodbye and going back to “the same ole same old ”. Songs of His glorious birth are replaced by the honking of horns on your morning commute to work. The trees that held under its branches items things you really wanted, is now empty and your heart still yearns for something more.
The day after Advent is more important than the day of. This is the day that you have to truly experience the joy of His coming.
You will face the trials and tribulations of life. You will have to go to work. You will have to face the same people that you had a problem with. Life doesn’t stop because of Advent, it begins!
Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus didn’t come to remove you from your life. He came that He might live His life in you and through you! His Advent gives us hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. Because He lives in you and me we can face tomorrow. His coming was not just into a manger, but because He came, He now dwells in the hearts of His people!
So this day forward, we are no longer lost, but we have been found. We no longer have to live our lives to appease an angry God, but His sacrifice covers and clothes us in His righteousness. We have more reason to celebrate Advent today than we did on Christmas so let us declare His greatness each and every day, knowing His Advent brought us eternal life!
Kevin
