An Advent Life by Bridget A. Thomas

The advent season is a special time of the year. The world around us seems to take on a new excitement as we anticipate Christmas day. We reflect on the first Christmas, over two thousand years ago, when the world awaited a Savior. The Israelites knew that the Messiah was promised to them. But they didn’t know when He would arrive.

Today, we too are waiting for our Savior, in a different sense. We have the privilege of knowing about Jesus’ birth, life, and death. We know that the Messiah did come. And we know that He died for our sins. Yet we still anticipate the day when we will meet Him, face-to-face. Every day of our lives, we are living in advent. But knowing Jesus and anticipating seeing Him unfolds precious gifts.

Jesus is our Hope. This hope that we have causes us to live our lives differently. It helps us to remember that our real home is eternal and this life is temporary. It helps us to remember the rewards stored up for us in heaven, which in turn causes us to make better choices each day of our lives. Clinging to hope brings us a brighter life, today and every day.

Jesus is our Peace. When life brings us uncertainty, we can still walk with the peace that surpasses understanding. Knowing Jesus causes our worries to seem smaller. We know that the Lord is in control of our lives. We know that He is there to rescue us and protect us. We know that every day there are angels with us. We know that God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Jesus is our Joy. We can live each day with a joy in our hearts because we know Jesus. We know that in eternity, we don’t have to face what we deserve – thanks to Jesus. And we know that each day on this earth we can look at with a different perspective – thanks to our Savior. We know that He is enough. We can face each day with contentment because of the One who lives in our hearts.

Jesus is our Love. He died for our sins. He took our place on the cross. He washed us clean and made us righteous. There is not greater love than the love of the Lord. He cares for us. He knows us personally and intimately. Words cannot express how great this love is. And this love helps more love to flow in our lives. We in turn love Him, because He first loved us. We also can extend that love to our family and friends because we have that beautiful love living on the inside of us.

Jesus is our everything. As you celebrate Christmas with your loved ones, and reflect on the birth of our Savior, take a moment to also reflect on the fact that we are living in advent all year long. But what a beautiful gift we have been given in this precious Savior. And this gift allows us to live each day of our lives with hope, peace, joy, and love. I pray you all have a very Merry Christmas!

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