Our King and Saviour draws near.
We are an Advent people! A people who understand life differently, an understanding derived from Scripture and wisdom passed down through the ages. A people who understand that we have “potential.” Inherent in us through the presence of God, is the potential for good, the potential for holiness, the potential for reconciliation, the potential for wholeness. Each and every day our acknowledgement of or enjoyment of the fullness of that potential is dependent on how much we focus on surrender to the will of God, the presence of God, and the centrality of Christ in our lives. The science of it is that if we don’t use that potential, it doesn’t mean that it is absent but merely that it is not manifest. When we fail to exhibit the likeness of Christ in our lives, it is not a sign of His absence, or distance, it is merely an indication of our inadequate surrender.
So, as we walk through life, let us be mindful of the opportunities to reveal Christ to the world.
Opportunities to show hope, to shed light, to offer respite from the challenges of life, by providing insight into the true context of life: That God is, and was and is to be, and that we are created in His image, and reconciled to the Father, and are saved, but not yet made perfect! We are potential – and in Christ we can bring Light to the world.
This Advent let us surrender to God as Mary and Joseph did, as John the Baptist did, and with them bring glory to God by welcoming Christ into the world as the Word made flesh, incarnate, Immanuel – God with us.
Be assured of my prayers as we journey to Bethlehem and beyond.
Fr Andrew.