Mark 8: 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. --NKJV
In the name of the One Who will come in His Father's glory, amen.
Advent is a time to prepare for Christ's arrival. Now that Christ has come in the flesh, even the secular world prepares for the celebration of His birth. Yes, the secular world is too late, and prepares in the wrong way, but it prepares nonetheless. The world also will be too late in preparing for Jesus to come in His glory. We expect the secular world to be unprepared. What will be an unexpected tragedy is if Christians are unprepared.
Sadly, many of us are unprepared. Many of us are ashamed of our Savior and His word. We are afraid to speak up and be counted as Christians. We are afraid to speak out for truth and justice. We are afraid that people won't like us, that we might be ridiculed for our deepest convictions. And so, we deny our Savior by remaining silent or subtly suggesting that maybe we don't really believe everything in the Bible.
But we are in the season of advent--a season of repentance, fasting, and prayer. Now is the time for us to confess our sins to our Savior. Now is the time to beg for His grace because of all the times we have denied Him. Now is the time to ask Him to give us a new and courageous heart. Now is the time to hear the life-giving words again, "Your sins are forgiven." Because we are baptized into Christ Jesus, our sins are washed away and we are clothed in His righteousness. Glory be to Jesus Who does not turn away from us, even when we turn away from Him. Amen.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, You are full of love and compassion for sinful man. You took our flesh to save us, and You will come in glory to judge us. Forgive us for the times we denied You. Save us, Lord, from our fears and make us courages witnesses of the Gospel. Cover us with Your righteousness so that You do not see our sin when You come to judge us, amen.
Copyright 1999 Reformation Lutheran Church http://ReformationChurch.org