Advent Prayer Challenge Day 13 - December 9
Infinite Gifts
Read Isaiah 48:17-19
Light two candles and say together
O that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Reflection
As a kid, I never wanted to have my gifts spoiled for me, but I was always intrigued by the wrapped boxes themselves. The dimensions could tell the story: a big present was obviously good, but hey, technology is getting pretty advanced, so a small present could be amazing, too! But one item under the tree was both revealing and mysterious at the same time: the envelope.
You knew that the envelope would have a card in it. But could that card also have… money? For a kid, presents are great, but a $20 bill opened a whole world of possibilities. If you didn’t get a certain item on your wish list, you could get it! Or you could just walk down the toy aisle of a store and get (nearly) anything you want. Or you could blow it all on candy, which was your right, of course. The possibilities felt endless.
Now, even though I’d welcome a $20 bill in a card today, that amount feels a lot more finite now. Christmas feels much more limited as an adult, with a budget to manage, time to allot to important holiday tasks, and there are only so many people you can cram into your schedule for visits.
To make things easier, we can entrust our concerns to something larger: enormous mega-corporations. In the past, you could get a lot done for Christmas at a big store with a big parking lot and big corporate logos on big bags. Now you can get even more shopping done online, with companies’ huge websites allowing you to buy nearly anything you want, which will be packaged in gargantuan warehouses, which will be sent to you from a van in a massive fleet of vehicles, all delivered to your door while you watch a show on that same company’s streaming platform.
Advent is a good time to recognize that no matter how big a company can be, it is still finite. It has an end. Businesses come and go, they are run by people, and people are very much finite, too.
In the book of Isaiah, God urges his people that they would be better off seeking his infinite wisdom and living by his words: “O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea,” (Isaiah 48:18). God uses the imagery of infinite things: the flow of a river, the churn of an ocean’s waves. His promise is not hardship or small victories; it is wild success, beyond what we could even hope for.
This Advent, look beyond the check boxes of your to-do list and see what God is promising you. Turn away from relying on corporations, or even from relying on yourself to get everything done. We live in a finite world, but God’s power and love are very much infinite.
Reflect and Discuss
- Is there anything you can take off your Christmas to-do list to make room for God? What can you entrust to Him?
- What do you think is God’s version of success for you? How could it be different from the ways you want to succeed?
- How can you add margin to your Christmas schedule so you have room to breathe and experience God’s presence?
Pray
Lord God, we long to be refreshed by you. Keep our eyes focused on you as we journey to Christmas. Let us understand your will for our lives.
Amen.
Advent in Action
What can you do less of today? Delete something from your to-do list today that you don't really need to do. Give yourself a little more time for what lasts.
More information about our Advent Prayer Challenge can be found here.
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Advent Prayer Challenge Day 12 - December 8
Chosen for This Read Genesis 3:1-24 & Ephesians 1:3-10 Want to go deeper today? Read Revelation 21:1-7 Light two candles and say together Come, Emmanuel, walk with us again....