Saturday, December 16
Isaiah 32:1-20 and Revelation 4:1-11
While we draw ever closer to Christmas and the joyous celebration which will follow, I am reminded of various Advent seasons in my life. Most have been surrounded with the joys of visiting family, with the delightful traditions they brought, and with my sense of wonder at the miracle of the Incarnation as I have grown to understand it more and more with each new year.
Over some years, however, a cloud loomed that dampened my Advent joy. Perhaps it was worry in anticipation of a big move away from my childhood home and everything I had ever known. Maybe that cloud was sorrow over my father’s failing health, taking away his energy to worship. The cloud could have even been despair after I realized the very next year that Dad would no longer be with us to celebrate the birth of our Savior in this life.
Sometimes, the very real pains of this life can leech the joyful peal of our jubilation right out of our mouths and jangle the jolly feeling from our minds. God’s Word reminds us today that our hope is not in elusive emotions or the feel-good familiarity of our surroundings but always found in our Lord’s steadfast and enduring promises to His people. In today’s readings, Isaiah promises the clarity of a king who will rule in righteousness to a people languishing under the confusion and misdirection of fools. John illustrates the glory of God’s throne room in heaven, a perfect snapshot of the heavenly realm united in pure worship and free of the worries of the Church as it persists in a world full of sin.
These passages do not merely speak about a glorious future that is far from our fingertips. The Lord places hope in our grasp! For our righteous king has come; Jesus has defeated the power of all sin, death, and the devil on the cross and rules in glory at the right hand of the Father. This Advent, know that the real and present love of our Savior is for you always, even if you can’t find that “old Christmas feeling,” and allow the joy of this objective reality to fill you as we approach our Savior’s birth.
HARRISON HULSE
CUW Student
About this series
“God With Us: the uncommon advent of our Savior” is a sampling of biblical meditations composed by members of the CUWAA 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 enthusiasm and anticipation through the Holy Spirit.