Reset your priorities during the Advent season

If you don’t mind, I would like to focus the next few columns on Advent.

Advent is the first season of the Christian year. To put it simply, it is a preparation time for the coming of a newborn King.

Many churches will be celebrating Advent through the next four weeks. Some churches, including the ones I serve, will light a special candle and quote a liturgy to commemorate this special day. For the Church universal, the first Sunday of Advent is considered the first day of the year for the church.

We start the year with a message of hope in a dreary world. “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

Immanuel and Emmanuel means God with us. This prophecy came at a time when the Jewish nation was at a very low point. Babylon was knocking at the door, and there was not very much hope. God let his people know there was hope, even in the midst of all their hopelessness.

So, next Sunday we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent in a dark and uncertain world. The celebration of Advent continues to remind us that God is not about to forget us, nor is He going to abandon us anytime soon. God is a keeper of promises, and he will not forget. This prophecy shows us that.

You see, some eight centuries later, that promise is fulfilled. A young woman, a virgin, gave birth to the Son of God. His name is Jesus Christ. This promise means salvation for all the world.

Unfortunately, the world has ceased to be awed by this. We have become used to the idea of God’s son coming down and going back up. Because of this, we fill this season with distractions away from the church.

Many will do something dubbed “Black Friday” next week. The next few weeks will be filled with buying presents, searching for that perfect gift, and trying to make all the parties we are invited to. The reality of life tends to take away the awesomeness of the gift that God has given. Our churches pay the price for the business the world has introduced to us.

Thus, the reason for Advent. If nothing else, it gives us pause to reflect on the wonderous promise that God fulfilled. This first week of Advent allows us to stand in awe of a creator God who does not forget. In fact, Advent shows us a God who will never give up on us.

So here is something to consider as you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season: use Advent. I pray it will bring awe and wonder into your life. I hope you will take time to read the Scriptures and share the hope that God has offered us. Maybe Advent can help us reset the priorities of the Christmas season.

Rev. Kent Wilfong is the pastor at the United Methodist Church, Doniphan/Neelyville.