Advent Devotion December 21
“And those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” - Isaiah 35:10
God sent his Son;
they called his name Jesus,
he came to love, heal and forgive,
He lived and died to buy my pardon.
- “Because He Lives,” Bill Gaither
With the arrival of Advent, I am reminded of one of the best perks of being a follower of Christ. That is the “how” and “why” we experience joy. We really can’t wrap our minds around the concept of a forever joy. But our perfect home forever will be a place of joy and light with family, friends and Christ.
The birth of a child is a precious bundle of joy that virtually all have experienced, whether as a parent, sibling, aunt, or uncle. With that experience of joy, we feel the warmth and love. I do not know about you, but I felt that same feeling when I came to know Christ as my personal Savior, and that feeling continues today as I keep growing closer to Him.
Every year since I was a child, I watched the stories of Scrooge, Grinch, and Jack Frost, and how their lives were full of misery, doom and gloom until that moment when that nagging inner voice got to them. We have seen the joy they began to experience after their change of heart. When we come to know Christ as our personal Savior, we experience the same thing.
Advent is indeed a time of joyful expectation. Joy comes wrapped in many packages. Take the time to humbly repent of your sins, ask for the grace of God to fully appreciate the gift of the Christ child this Advent, and you will enter into that forever joy experience with the Lord. Amen.
By Edward Krueger, Junction City UMC, Bluegrass District