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Advent Devotional for Wednesday, December 5
Isaiah 1:24-31
Recently I was staring at a picture of my children. There they were, three faces staring back at me, frozen in time. I began to wonder how and when they got to be so big and so independent. As I continued to stare at the picture I began to reflect back on our lives together and over our incredible journey we have shared thus far. As we prepare for the coming of the precious Christ child, Isaiah calls all of God’s people to likewise take a picture of their faith. We are called to stare at a picture of who we have become, and where we are now, as children of God.
We are also called to be reminded of who it is that created us and sent us on our way. It is in these moments, as we stare at ourselves, that we can identify how we have stayed the course, or where we find ourselves veering far off in one direction or the other. It is only in these sometimes difficult moments of reflection when we can truly ask God to purge our lives of the meaningless pursuits that become all-consuming.
Here in these snapshot moments we can once again ask of the Almighty, the One who is bigger than all of the faults and foolishness we see in ourselves, to purify us and again call us back to our created selves. We are reminded that Christ is coming, and with him comes the promise that no matter how far we wander, or where we find ourselves at that particular moment, God will scour and redirect us. Only then are we set free to continue our journey once again being called children of God.
Holy One, we come to you now where we are in our lives; broken, lost, misguided. We come to you now where we are in our lives; full of love, faithfulness, and joy. We ask that you separate us from all that would lead us astray and purify us so that we may indeed be called your children. Amen.
Lisa Rush
Senior MDiv student from San Antonio, Texas
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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