In Other Words

"One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper was not hostile; he was not opposed to them, but his inn was crowded; his hands were full; his mind was preoccupied. This is the answer that millions are giving today. Like a Bethlehem innkeeper, they cannot find room for Christ. All the accommodations in their hearts are already taken up by other crowding interests. Their response is not atheism. It is not defiance. It is preoccupation and the feeling of being able to get on reasonably well without Christianity."
~ Billy Graham ~

We Christians, too, can fall asleep, in a sense--lulled by the same kind of distracted busyness. Our hands are full, our minds preoccupied, our lives crowded. We are saturated with activity to the point that we mistake saturation for satisfaction. And we slumber.

Advent begins the traditional liturgical year of the church with a wake-up call. The daily Scripture readings for the first two weeks of this season are full of apocalyptic images, of light breaking into darkness, of the need to be prepared for "the day of the Lord." Advent reminds us that Christ came once as a baby; he will come again as King and Judge.

One of Sunday's readings ended with these verses:

"But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:34-36)

Lord, wake me from the slumber induced by the cares of this life. Help me be spiritually wide awake and alert: able to hear your call, ready to do your bidding. Help me be as one of the five wise virgins, who had oil in her lamp and was prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom!

Oh, come Lord Jesus, come!