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The "A" of Advent

 The A of Advent

 

A would stand for "awe in God's presence", which is commonly known as "Fear of the Lord". I reckon without awe in God's presence, we are really hopeless folks. Hope being the traditional thrust of Advent, hoping for the coming of our Saviour, etc., etc., etc., hopelessness kinda goes against the deal. If we don't have awe of God, then I reckon we've made Him a bit smaller than He really is, which is infinite to tell the truth. Probably, we've put God in a box and have Him all figured out. He's our buddy and He's always predictable and we know exactly how He will react to certain things, and so forth. This may seem a bit far fetched to those of us who like the idea of Jesus saying, "You are slaves no longer. I call you friends." And so, yes, we can have Jesus (AKA God) as our buddy, our closest friend, and that is all proper. However, we must also remember who this person is that is our best friend. And we should have awe that He chose us before we ever chose Him or even knew Him or even before we ever existed! It's like the old saying, "I know two things: there is a God, and I'm not Him!" Awe in God's presence requires humility as well. If we are so caught up in ourselves and our power and/or ability, it's no wonder God isn't a part of it. God is then put in the "On Sunday Only" box, and let out for about an hour if the priest goes too long.

Awe in God's presence is what keeps hope alive. We have the faith that God is interested in us, that He can do all things (hmmm, "with God, all things are possible..."). This gives us the hope of the Jews of the coming of the Messiah because God promised it and God can do it and will do it! We, too, are still hoping for a similar Messiah in the second coming of Christ, when Creation itself will be restored and there will be no more harm on God's holy mountain or elsewhere! (Yes, that means coyotes won't eat rabbits any more!) Advent calls us to hope in God's work in our lives here today, effectively working out what He did for us in time as the person of Jesus, the God-Man, in anticipation of our meeting Him face to face at our end time (be it at our death to this world or at the second coming, whichever comes first!) And God sees it all!!! He's made us all. He is infinite. He always was. He always is. He always will be. That means no limitations at all at all at all!!!

 

So often I'm guilty of limiting God, of being of the mindset that He's pretty well stuffed things up down here, and that He really doesn't have a clue as to what is really going on in this world around me, much less what's up inside of me. I cannot even count the times in the past month that I've had to catch myself, and remind myself that, hey, God is God. He knows! He's got it under control IF I ONLY LET IT GO!!! Bummer. I'm not in control. But then again, HURRAH!!! I don't have to be in control!!! There's hope after all!

 

And that brings us back into Advent. Remain hopeful. Remain in awe of God in His creation of you, in His provision for you, in His redemption for you, in His multitude of gifts for you, etc., etc., etc. Be humble. Relish the freedom of God's love in doing the best for you, even if you don't see that it's the best at the time. Have faith. Have hope. Live it out in love, in that charity that binds us all together.

 

God bless! Have a hopeful and awesome Advent!

 

Eric B. "Graydog" Gray

Two Dogs and a Hog Secretary/Treasurer

 

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!!!

Written By: WebNovice
Date Posted: 7/14/2007
Number of Views: 743
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