An ADVENTure with God // Galatians 4:4-5
Today begins the season of Advent…a time of preparation for the glory of Christmas. This is the time when we countdown with great excitement and anticipation of the celebration of the birth of our Savior. That isn’t the only thing we are called to do during this season, though. Advent is also a time when we are to prepare ourselves, and share with others, that Jesus made a promise to return. It is lovely to reflect upon the time when God came as a tiny, vulnerable baby, so we could become God’s very own children. The time is coming when Christ will return, and He won’t come again as a baby.
Check out the description of the Conquering Christ’s appearance from Revelation 1:13-16 as John’s vision describes Him as “dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (NIV). Kinda intimidating, huh? It surely was for John, who is known as the disciple Jesus loved. He wrote that He fell at Christ’s feet as though dead. Then, the Conquering Christ did this: “Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.“
Jesus will return! He offers the same comforting words to those whom He loves today as He did to John the Beloved on the Island of Patmos (where Revelation was written). We need not fear but look forward with anticipation and excitement for the First, the Last, the Living One. He wants us to see the future as an adventure, not as something to cause angst.
So, as we kick off this season of Advent, focus on the freedom Jesus bought for you when He paid your sin-debt on the cross. Then, look forward to the time He will return to fulfill the promise that where He is, we will be, too (John 14:3).
