Listen

Comfort, comfort my people! says your God. Speak compassionately to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her compulsory service has ended, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins!

Isaiah 40:1-2

Think

No matter how much I loved traveling or summer camp or even school, it was always so comfortable to get back home and sit down on my couch. As I would sit there the rest of the world seemed to become a little easier to bear.

“Comfort” was the message the Lord shared with the people of Israel. After trials, tribulations, and pain, the people were given a message of relief. How many of us would think of our relationship with God as comfortable?

Perhaps what God has in mind is that after all of the craziness of the year — after all of the tests, the schedules, the drama of everyday life — we can sit down, breathe deeply, and simply be present with our Creator once again. God calls us to this place of comfortable presence. This season of Advent, we are called to return home to be with our God.

Jeff Binder

Pray

Loving God, thank you for this day. Allow me to breathe in deeply, to exhale slowly, and simply be present with you, my Creator, my great peace. Amen.

Go

May we be comforted by your history of loving us, dear Lord, at peace with your daily presence, and energized for the adventures that lie ahead.