Christian Reflection and Prayer

"Homeward Bound"
The First Sunday in Advent

Read Psalm 122.
I was glad when they said, "Let us go up to the house of the
LORD." (Psalm 122:1)

"Come on up for Thanksgiving!" Did you receive a Thanksgiving
invitation this year? I guess all of us who regularly have the
chance to gather with family and friends for the holidays take
it for granted. The wonderful smells of holiday meals, the
laughter filling the house, and everybody catching up with
events in each other's lives are what make the day so special.

But today Thanksgiving weekend comes to an end and all those
happy get-togethers must break up. Roads are packed with
travelers scattering their separate ways. Of course in a few
short weeks, we'll hear a new invitation: "Come on up for
Christmas!"

Your church is sending out its own invitation this Advent. In
the next few weeks many volunteers will be decorating the
church, learning their parts for the Christmas program, and
practicing their anthems for the choir. Your brothers and sisters
in Christ are going to all this effort because they want to invite
you to come on up for Christmas as together we go to worship
and celebrate our Savior's coming.

But there is another come-on-up-for-Christmas invitation unlike
any other. When you reach this home you won't find yourself
sitting at the little kid's table or crammed into a crowded pew.
And the festival won't end too soon like Thanksgiving and
Christmas always do. The Lord Jesus Himself is inviting you to
come up to His heavenly home and stay there with Him--forever.

That's what Advent is all about, and that's what these Advent
devotions are all about. We will recall why the Lord Jesus came
down from heaven so long ago. We will recall that the only way
we can call heaven our home was because Jesus took our guilt
and sin upon Himself and suffered and died in our place. Then,
putting our faith in Christ, we will join our brothers and sisters in
Jesus Christ in joyful expectation as we journey on together.

So light the first Advent candle, and accept our thrilling invitation:
"Let us go up to the house of the Lord!"

THE PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, thank You for calling us home to share Your
eternal celebration through Your Son Jesus Christ. Help us to
truly value Your forgiveness in Jesus and our eternal future, which
He won for us by His life, death, and resurrection. In Jesus'
Name. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)