A Season of WaitingSample

What is Advent?

You may read the verses above and find yourself humming to the tune of Handel’s Messiah, which is often sung by choirs during the Advent season leading up to Christmas. It has become a tradition for some of my friends to attend a performance each advent to hear these rousing verses sung. You may have a variety of family or personal traditions that you carry out each year in the weeks leading up to Christmas, or perhaps you just feel the stretch of year-end activities and the longing for a holiday.

Whatever your day looks like today, thanks for taking a moment to consider what advent really means. The original definition of advent was used to describe the preparation time to welcome the arrival of a person or event of significance. For Christians, it’s a time to prepare to remember the birth of Jesus as our saving one (Messiah).

The traditions can be different, but the meaning is the same. When our children were young, we found a great book that led us through four weeks of advent with Bible verses and a few fun activities we did as a family. Now I use a Bible app that leads us through a reflection each day and gives us a prayer for the world. My prayer today is that we will all press pause on the business of the season and seek a moment to thank God that He sent Jesus the Prince of Peace.

Written by Kath Henry