The Advent/Arrival of Grace

As I perused my inbox, a title grabbed my attention from Crosswalk.com: 25 Scripture Verses to Pray During Advent.  I scrolled down past the e-mail without opening it, but I couldn’t resist. It sounded like an article too good to pass up, so I clicked on the link. It’s written by contributing writer, Candace Crabtree of His Mercies are New,  I knew I had to share this list with my friends, but I was also struck by the subjects she chose for the scriptures. They weren’t your typical Advent themes.

Advent is a season of expectation of good things coming. Liturgical churches recognize different blessings of Christ during the four weeks before Christmas. Some celebrate hope, love, joy, and peace. Others celebrate expectation, hope, joy and purity. The last candle lit on the Advent wreathe is always the Christ candle that represents the light He brought into the world.

I love the symbolism of the Advent wreathe and the different meanings of the candles, but the Crosswalk article gave scriptures to read and pray about the arrival of grace.

That struck a chord in my spirit. More like a strum of strings along my heart.

Grace.

It’s one of my favorite subjects yet one that I have to remind myself of often.

My friends, it’s so hard to wrap our minds around what the arrival of Grace ushered into the world. For Grace Himself was born under the stars on a cold night. They laid Grace in a manger, a watering trough for animals. They wrapped Him in cloths, the ones in the stable provided for the newborn lambs because His parents were on a road trip. They hadn’t packed baby clothes.

And despite the desperation of the hour, the seemingly lack of provision, God provided an army of stars and the shepherds came and the angels sang, and it was a glorious night the night that Grace took His first breath.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” 

I read in one commentary about Advent that for Christians, we celebrate three advents and  arrivals of the Christ. The first one being His arrival as a baby born Savior of the world. The second when we invite Him into our hearts, and the third is yet to come, when He returns to take us home.

As we prepare for the celebration of His first arrival may we thank Him everyday for the arrival of Grace He brought to us. Grace that climbs inside our hearts and changes us from the inside out. Grace that saves us.

Thank you Jesus.

Do you have an advent wreathe?

Digging Deep,

andy