I don’t know how you look upon the season of Advent. Personally, I have come to view Advent as a season in which to wake up, spiritually speaking.
Some will occasionally say to me, “Why do we need a season like Advent? Shouldn’t we be waking ourselves up spiritually every day?”
Of course we should. But we don’t, do we? We allow ourselves to become sleepy in our walk with Christ. We allow ourselves to become drowsy in our apathy toward the Kingdom and its ministry in the world.
Therein lies the blessing of the liturgical calendar—a calendar in which chronos is measured by kairos and in which the passing of time is framed by the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord. A season like Advent affords to us a unique opportunity to open our spiritual eyes and to come out of our drowsiness, so that, by the time Christmas arrives, we will be fully prepared to receive and accommodate Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, who comes to us afresh.
Given what I’ve just written, you can imagine how deeply the following portion of Scripture resonates in my soul:
You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers. The night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:11-12).
Blessings upon your celebration of this potential-rich season. Make yourselves available to the living presence of the One whose coming we anticipate. Lay aside in repentance whatever works of darkness are preventing him from having complete access to your life and your soul.
And, above all……………………..WAKE UP!