So here we find ourselves once again.
The Advent Season is upon us
although I’m not sure where the time has gone.
What about you?
What frame of mind do you find yourself in
as we enter this Holy Season?
The one thing I’ve learned throughout the years
is that our frame of mind going into Advent
often influences our frame of  mind throughout Advent.
So, having said that, I believe it is imperative to set aside some time
in the Word, with the Lord,
that we might search our hearts
and renew our minds and
prepare ourselves for this most
Holy Season.

Each year it seems more evident to me, when I think about Christmas and the weeks (or months) surrounding it, that the meaning of Christmas has become lost in the doing of Christmas.  By doing I don’t just mean the commercialization but even all those good things we do, like gift giving and fellowship and food with family and friends. It would seem that Christmas starts earlier and earlier every year with the result, often, that by the time the big day rolls around, we are weary from doing and everything has lost its wonder and sparkle.

The other thing about Christmas is that we seem to be very focused on Christmas as a great gift but without being conscious or aware of the cost of that gift.  We often think of sacrifice and cost when we think of Easter, not Christmas.  In the broader sense of things, Christmas is meaningless without the sacrifice it points to.  And in the very specific sense of things, if you look more closely at the Christmas story itself and all those associated with it, there was also great cost involved.  When gifts are given and received with little or no awareness of the cost involved, they are more easily taken for granted and once again, the wonder and sparkle is lost.

This Advent, let’s take some time and look a little more closely at those involved in the story of this great gift and what the coming of this gift cost them.

I always love reading about Zacharius and Elizabeth.  There they are, minding their own business, living their day to day life and all of a sudden they find themselves in the midst of it all. When we think about them and their contribution to the season, at first glance it would seem that there was no cost to them, just a blessing.  But let’s look a little more closely. The Word tells us:

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. Luke 1: 6,7

The cost was in the preparation!  Elizabeth was barren!  The preparation for their part in the story – becoming the parents of John the Baptist who would go before the Lord to prepare the way – meant they had to endure the shame of being barren.  Imagine the pain and suffering that came to them because of that – all those years, waiting and hoping and still nothing.  When Elizabeth conceives she says, “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Luke 1: 25 

What I love about the Lord is that along with the cost there came a promise.

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

“And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

“He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Luke 1: 13-17

So what appears to be involvement without cost, upon closer inspection, actually involved great cost, and likely great pain and suffering, to Elizabeth and Zacharius, in order for them to come into the proper position, for the Lord to do His work in and through them.

And so it begins!

What words has the Lord been speaking to you as we enter this advent season?  Words of preparation, words of promise, words related to the position He needs you to be in to move onto the next step.  Have you taken time out of your busy schedule to listen?  Because you know, very well, that the season will just get busier and busier from here on in.

Set yourself aside, take the time.  Consider the cost that Elizabeth and Zarcharius endured in order to be in proper position to receive the promise.  And ask the Lord to show you, even know, what He would have you understand this Christmas about “the cost” of this great gift.

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by
This opportunity to get in the Presence of the Lord
To listen
To understand
That this year, the wonder and sparkle of Christmas won’t wear off so quickly
That this year will be different.
That this wonder and sparkle will stir up a fire within your heart and spirit
A fire that will propel you into the New Year.

So here we find ourselves once again.
The Advent Season is upon us
although I’m not sure where the time has gone.
What about you?
What frame of mind do you find yourself in
as we enter this Holy Season?
The one thing I’ve learned throughout the years
is that our frame of mind going into Advent
often influences our frame of  mind throughout Advent.
So, having said that, I believe it is imperative to set aside some time
in the Word, with the Lord,
that we might search our hearts
and renew our minds and
prepare ourselves for this most
Holy Season.

Each year it seems more evident to me, when I think about Christmas and the weeks (or months) surrounding it, that the meaning of Christmas has become lost in the doing of Christmas.  By doing I don’t just mean the commercialization but even all those good things we do, like gift giving and fellowship and food with family and friends. It would seem that Christmas starts earlier and earlier every year with the result, often, that by the time the big day rolls around, we are weary from doing and everything has lost its wonder and sparkle.

The other thing about Christmas is that we seem to be very focused on Christmas as a great gift but without being conscious or aware of the cost of that gift.  We often think of sacrifice and cost when we think of Easter, not Christmas.  In the broader sense of things, Christmas is meaningless without the sacrifice it points to.  And in the very specific sense of things, if you look more closely at the Christmas story itself and all those associated with it, there was also great cost involved.  When gifts are given and received with little or no awareness of the cost involved, they are more easily taken for granted and once again, the wonder and sparkle is lost.

This Advent, let’s take some time and look a little more closely at those involved in the story of this great gift and what the coming of this gift cost them.

I always love reading about Zacharius and Elizabeth.  There they are, minding their own business, living their day to day life and all of a sudden they find themselves in the midst of it all. When we think about them and their contribution to the season, at first glance it would seem that there was no cost to them, just a blessing.  But let’s look a little more closely. The Word tells us:

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. Luke 1: 6,7

The cost was in the preparation!  Elizabeth was barren!  The preparation for their part in the story – becoming the parents of John the Baptist who would go before the Lord to prepare the way – meant they had to endure the shame of being barren.  Imagine the pain and suffering that came to them because of that – all those years, waiting and hoping and still nothing.  When Elizabeth conceives she says, “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Luke 1: 25 

What I love about the Lord is that along with the cost there came a promise.

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

“And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

“He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Luke 1: 13-17

So what appears to be involvement without cost, upon closer inspection, actually involved great cost, and likely great pain and suffering, to Elizabeth and Zacharius, in order for them to come into the proper position, for the Lord to do His work in and through them.

And so it begins!

What words has the Lord been speaking to you as we enter this advent season?  Words of preparation, words of promise, words related to the position He needs you to be in to move onto the next step.  Have you taken time out of your busy schedule to listen?  Because you know, very well, that the season will just get busier and busier from here on in.

Set yourself aside, take the time.  Consider the cost that Elizabeth and Zarcharius endured in order to be in proper position to receive the promise.  And ask the Lord to show you, even know, what He would have you understand this Christmas about “the cost” of this great gift.

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by
This opportunity to get in the Presence of the Lord
To listen
To understand
That this year, the wonder and sparkle of Christmas won’t wear off so quickly
That this year will be different.
That this wonder and sparkle will stir up a fire within your heart and spirit
A fire that will propel you into the New Year.