Romans 13:11 “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
As children, I’m guessing we all sang ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’ hundreds of times – but did we ever really wonder what they are? At any rate, the sheer fascination, curiosity and wonder we began life with became quickly eroded as we grew up. According to the research of Rolf Smith, children ask 125 probing questions per day whilst adults ask only six – somewhere along the line we lose 119 questions per day. As Christians, we’ve sought to prove that God is factual, which he is, but facts don’t awe us. We’ve sought a God of logic and thereby missed out on worshipping the God of wonders. Approaching Him deductively as an object of knowledge is dangerous as we miss experiencing Him inductively as the cause of wonder.
Advent helps us address this issue. Historically, the Church sets aside Advent as a four-week pre-Christmas season in which to prepare spiritually for Christ’s coming. It’s a time of quiet joyous anticipation and wonder. It’s an invitation to awaken from our slumber. As Alfred McBride wrote:
“Each year, God asks us to shed one more coat of awareness, one more dream state and come alive to the vision of God’s plan for each of us and the world-at-large. The older we get, the harder this is to do. As children we had a sense of wonder. Our eyes were wide open and drinking in the fascinating gifts we beheld… Then, somehow, we grew too old to dream. We tired of the abundance of the world, or at least grew weary and stepped away from the banquet of life. The natural gift of wonder God gave us as children was meant to be kept alive.… Instead we let wonder go to sleep. We entered the typical dream state of most humans. Advent says, ‘Wake up and realize the gifts of love you have received’.”
Lord, I choose to use this Advent season to live wide awake with wonder and gratitude and anticipation. Amen!
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