Listen

Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth— teach it to me— because you are the God who saves me. I put my hope in you all day long. Lord, remember your compassion and faithful love— they are forever!

Psalm 25:4-6

Think

Some things never get old. This time of the year, we can hear the same song, watch the same movie, read the same book again and again. It’s a lot of the same, and often it never gets old. After all, it’s almost Christmas!

Advent, however, is not only a season that allows us to prepare ourselves for Christmas, it also marks the beginning of the Christian year. In other words, Advent is like starting a brand-new year in the Church. So instead of thinking about Christmas as a one-day event, during Advent, we get the opportunity to hear the hope-filled story of Emmanuel — God with us — as if for the first time.

Like the people of Israel may have sung or recited the words of the 25th Psalm, we too can pray these verses. We can ask God, during all of the “sameness” of this time of year, to teach us something new this season. After all, the story of Jesus’s birth truly never gets old.

Tasha Gibson

Pray

Emmanuel, God with us, thank you for this season of preparation. Please teach me something new about you today. In the name of the triune God, amen.

Go

This is not the end.

God is up to something wonderful in the world.

Watch for it.