Season of Advent
‘Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,
and so we will always be with the Lord’
(1 Thessalonians 4:17)
‘Advent’ is such a special word. We tend to reserve it for the coming of someone or something
really significant – ‘the advent of spring’, ‘the advent of the Prince’, ‘The advent of our first grandchild’.
Once the advent is here, life changes. No accident then that we use if of this time of year.
Our lives, in fact human history, is now bounded by two great advents.
When we look back, we see the coming of Jesus.
When we look ahead, we see the return of Jesus, his coming again.
Just as the first coming fills us with joy, so the second coming fills us with hope.
This world with all its pain and suffering and evil is not all there is.
One day, the Lord will return and our future is to be with him forever.
What glory awaits!
Question for thought: Am I ready for the return of Jesus?
Lord, we pray for the many challenges facing members in Mpumalanga in South Africa.
May the support and care they give to prison ministry, people living with HIV/AIDS,
hospital visitation and those living in poverty enable the suffering to cling to the hope
of the gospel in the midst of their challenges. AMEN.