Читать книгу Advent: A Calendar of Devotions 2020 (Pkg of 10) - Jenny Smith - Страница 6

Let your hand be with the one on your right side—

with the one whom you secured as your own—

then we will not turn away from you!

Revive us so that we can call on your name.

Restore us, LORD God of heavenly forces!

Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

—Psalm 80:17-19

What phrase or word caught your attention from the reading for today? Revive us leapt off the page to me. It highlights two steps involved this Advent season. First, we’re imploring God to revive us for a purpose—not just so we can be happy and at peace in our own little world. This work is being done for a larger reason. Second, we long for the Divine to restore us to wholeness, to salvation. We’re desperate to be rescued, made whole, and brought to the fullness of who we are in Christ.

How might these steps unfold in your life this Advent? Is there a tradition you love this time of year that you could repurpose to make room for reviving and rescue?

I love the day we decide to decorate our Christmas tree. My husband drags out all the boxes, and I clap my hands with joy as our children and I unpack ornaments and decorations we haven’t seen in eleven months. We ooh and ahh over each one. We play Amy Grant’s Christmas music, and I relive my childhood years. When all is in place, we continue with one of my family’s traditions: one of the kids is lifted to place the angel delicately on the top of the tree.

As beautiful as all this is, my favorite part is the next morning. I tiptoe downstairs, turn on the tree lights, and settle into a chair by the tree. I breathe deeply of the anticipation of the season. I listen for God’s leading in my life. I share my frustration and fear. These quiet moments revive me. God reminds me of my identity as a child of the Creator of the Universe. And when God revives me, it’s for a purpose. I’m not revived simply so I can get all the things done this month that shout my name. No, I am revived so that I can welcome the Beloved Community in our midst.

This season, we’re invited to receive the work of revival and restoration so that we can fully lean on Jesus at every turn.

Closing Practice: Add a moment of revival and restoration to a favorite Advent tradition today. How might it shift your experience of long-held traditions?