"Wait Up!"

“O kneel me down again here at Your feet; show me how much You love humility…” —Brenton Brown, “Humble King”

One of the many good things about Advent is that it helps slow you down when all around seems to be screaming forward at breakneck speed. Four Sundays when you put the chaos on pause even for a few moments to remind your heart all over again the true meaning of God with us—and not just in some storybook or historical sense. But, "with us" in a promise made to Isaiah some 700 years earlier, with us in Bethlehem just as God promised hundreds of years before it happened, and with us even now through the resounding words of God-with-us Himself: "I will never leave you or forsake you."

The faithfulness of God. The preciseness of God. The Love of God. All simple things too easily taken for granted (yes, it’s OK to admit that), which is why Advent can be so awesome. Advent is like the third base coach who waves the emphatic “wait up!” signal when we’re determinedly running full speed ahead with our head down. It gives us pause for what really matters. It clears misconceptions, doubts, and small-God ideas that have crept in unnoticed during the past 11 months. Things that try to discourage and make your attitude reek of “what-ever.”

And, sometimes, it does so with a shock treatment. Advent needs no black Friday hype to remind you, in the process of tilling the soil of your heart one more time so that it remembers what truly matters, that Jesus said and did some shocking things that were meant not to be just observed but duplicated. 

Things like living in humility.

In our culture, many think that being humble is being “soft.” But search the scriptures, and nowhere will you find anyone accusing Jesus of being a wimp about anything. Jesus is Savior, Jesus is shepherd, Jesus is Redeemer and King and comforter, and truth and life and hope and healing and so much more—but all of it was wrapped in a strong, loving cloak of humility. In the words of C.S, Lewis, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”

Lord, there are tons of things on our minds as we round the bases of our daily routine this season, some of which are not at all trivial and really, really matter. But as we do so, help us not to run by Your “wait up!” sign on something that was lived out by the One who came to us in a manger and who handed us the baton when He returned to Glory:

“Don’t let selfishness and prideful agendas take over. Embrace humility, and lift your heads to extend love to others. Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interest first. In other words, adopt the mindset of Jesus. Live with His attitude in your hearts.”—Philippians 2:3-5, The Voice

[photo credit: San Francisco Giants]