I love the season of Advent! The word Advent means "coming," and it's a season of preparation and waiting where we anticipate the coming of Christ. But Advent is more than just a countdown to Christmas that we fast forward through, hoping to get on to the big day and the big celebration of Christmas. Advent is a season of waiting where we are called to remember the past and anticipate the future, opening our hearts and our lives up to the new and unexpected things that God wants to birth in us.
During Advent, we look to the past, and we remember how God’s people longed for a rescuer. They, too, were waiting for the promised Messiah to set them free from the oppressive rule of the Romans. Yet, God had even more abundant plans, sending his one and only Son to rescue, redeem, and deliver humanity from the oppression of sin, setting people free forever.
But in Advent, we also look to the future—watching and waiting for Christ to come once again. Yes, Advent reminds us that Christ, who once came as a little baby in Bethlehem, will one day come again in glory to make all things new and set right all the world’s wrongs once and for all.
Indeed, Advent is a call to remember the past and anticipate the future. This Advent, may we open our hearts and our lives up to the coming of Christ once again, and may he fill us with hope, peace, joy, and love.