Editor's note: "Unmasking Advent: The Arrival of a Savior in Our Lives" is a sampling of biblical meditations composed by members of the Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor community. It is our prayer that you will take time during the Advent season to read and reflect upon God's Word and await the coming of Jesus with newfound anticipation and zeal through the Holy Spirit.
December 21 – Take a deep breath
Isaiah 42:1-25 and Revelation 9:1-12
Take a deep breath. Go ahead…take one! If you are wearing a face mask while reading this, you may notice it is more difficult than when you are unmasked. Breathing freely is a gift and one that many of us may have taken for granted.
Often we are encouraged to take a deep breath to prepare for ‘something big’ that is about to happen: final exams, an important job interview, the game-clinching free throw at the end of the fourth quarter, childbirth, and the list continues. This season of Advent invites us to take a deep breath to prepare for the birth of our Savior, the most wonderful ‘something big’ that ever happened!
Through Jesus, we are freed from our mask of sin. He breathed His last on the cross so that we might receive the gift of God’s grace! Unmasked, we may now proclaim His salvation from day to day. The apostle Paul puts it beautifully, And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate The LORD’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the LORD, Who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Today’s reading from Isaiah promises that the LORD, who gives breath to His people of the earth and life to those who walk on it, has called you in righteousness and will take hold of your hand. He will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. Through the Bethlehem baby, we are unmasked from sin and able to fill our heart and lives with a faith that is truly Spirit breathed.
We may then share the gift of the gospel to a world suffocating from Satan. O come, Immanuel, LORD with us, as we take a deep breath. Prepare our hearts and minds to share the Light of the World with everyone we meet.
LINDA SPROUL is an alumnus of Concordia University Ann Arbor and Director of Donor and Alumni Relations on that campus. She has served Concordia since 2018.
View a full schedule of “An uncommon Advent” readings here.
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