November 28th- 2nd Day of Advent

Nov. 28 - John 1:1-18- Leeann Younger (CityView)

The call to follow Jesus can be a hard walk. We’re called to “do justice” and “love mercy”, even when it’s difficult. We often find ourselves swimming upstream against the current of popular opinion or maybe even against the opinions of those who taught us to follow Jesus in the first place. What makes sense to us in the light of God’s Kingdom doesn’t always make sense to everyone around us. Advent is a time to remember that we don’t walk this road of justice and mercy alone.  Jesus, the one  who “was with God in the beginning” walks with us through the ups and downs of this journey.

Verses 9-11 in the passage for today remind us that Jesus not only walks with us, but he also walked this road before us. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” Think about that. The creator wasn’t recognized by his own creation! We can take comfort in this truth when mercy and justice seem foreign to those around us. As we live and love like Jesus we participate in a story bigger than our individual lives. It’s a story that starts at creation and finds its focal point in the creator coming to Earth himself. The spirit of Advent is a spirit of longing. We long for the day when the world is restored.  We long to see Jesus. Until that day comes we’ll keep walking the road we’ve been called to, knowing that, it isn’t always easy, and that Jesus walks with us.

What is a physical reminder that you can wear or hold in your pocket to consistently remind yourself that your walk of faith is not a walk that you make alone?

What circumstance in your current life highlights your feeling of longing for Jesus to “show up?”  Write a prayer thanking Jesus for walking with you, even if you need to admit that you don’t believe this all the time.