Advent is about time spent with God – Advent Devotional

"More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:8a)

Daily Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:7-9

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. - Augustine

  If our "face time" with one another is dwindling, our time spent one on one with God is on the endangered list. Our busy world with endless to-do lists challenges the notion of the importance of quiet time with our Creator. Advent invites us to turn that life-draining pattern upside down.

  Advent celebrates the incarnational, Word-becomes-flesh God. Advent announces that God was not willing to have a distant, arms-length relationship with us. Advent is all about God's willingness, even insistence, to be vulnerable, accessible, reachable, and attainable. Advent breaks down the barriers between the created and the Creator.

  God begins the process by delivering a message. God sends the silent, distant star in the sky; it's not clearly understood by everyone and is open to misinterpretation, just read how Herod responded. Yet there it is, an open invitation to anyone who will receive it.  God sends other messengers to deliver this urgent, good news. God has the corner on the market when it comes to the best messengers. Gabriel and a company of angels announces the upcoming birth and sing their alleluias for the shepherds and anyone else who will listen.

  God's desire was to deliver the Good News of mercy, love and hope in person through the incarnation. God chose face time in a way that would change the world. God spoke to the hearts of the people through Jesus, the son of the living God.

  The apostle Paul in our scripture reading for today, speaks of his longing to know Jesus Christ. He says that whatever else he might have gained in life meant nothing apart from the “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:8)

  Not only does God yearn to communicate deeply and intimately with God's people, God chooses the perfect way to slide into our lives by appearing as a small baby to enter into our lives. Whom among us do not love children and take the time to speak with a child. God invites us to greet Him as a small child, approachable, joyous, and smiling.

  Frederick William Faber speaks to us about God's desire to have us hear the evidence of His presence in our lives: There is hardly ever a complete silence in our souls. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear these whisperings of God... He is always whispering to us, only that we do not always hear, because of the hurry, noise, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on.

  It would be tragic if in the hurry and rush of our lives during Advent, if we arrived on Christmas Day and discovered we missed hearing the Christ child speaking to our hearts and minds. It would be tragic, if we missed the opportunity to experience the “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:8)