Transition

 

Transition. I hesitate to use that word, since it has such a different cultural connotation than what I mean. But here in the Feaster household, it’s a week of transition. Of change. It's time for the shift from fall décor and pumpkins to Christmas trees and holly. Many people began November by putting up a Christmas tree. For us, the tree goes up after Thanksgiving. It has been our tradition since our very first Christmas.

This is the week we transition from the season of Thanksgiving to the season of Christmas. Even though the malls and discount stores and TV commercials have been pushing Christmas on us earlier and earlier each year, now that Thanksgiving is past we are officially in the Christmas season.  

This week leads us to the first Sunday of Advent. Although I didn't grow up in a church that talked about Advent, at least not that I can recall, and we didn't light Advent candles in our church back in my growing up years, as I get older I find myself drawn to that tradition. To the way it focuses our attention on what we are really celebrating during this season of the year.

While we enjoy our snowmen and our Santas and our elves, that's really not what the holiday is all about.  This is a season to celebrate the birth of our Savior. To celebrate Jesus! Even though it is unlikely He was born on December 25, or even at this time of year, this is the time we celebrate that event.

Whether or not your particular church has an Advent wreath, and whether or not you have an Advent wreath in your home, you probably use candles in your Christmas decorating around the house. Even those candles are a reminder to us of what Christmas is all about. Jesus, the Light of the World, is the reason we are celebrating.

In many churches where an Advent wreath is part of the celebration of Christmas, the candle that is lit on the first Sunday of the Advent season is the Prophet's Candle. It's a time to focus attention on what the prophets had to say about the coming of the Messiah, and how these prophecies are fulfilled by the birth of the Christ Child in Bethlehem.

This week, as you are transitioning from Thanksgiving to Christmas, why not take some time to find a quiet place and read some of these Scriptures yourself. Maybe you could even light a candle. Set aside the hustle and bustle of the holiday season for just a moment and reflect on the One whose birth was foretold so long ago by the prophets.  

Read the prophecies. Reflect on how they are fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let your spirit be renewed by focusing on what Christmas is really all about.

It's a good way to transition into the Christmas season.


"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." 

(Isaiah 7:14 NASB)

 

 

"Come, thou long expected Jesus,

born to set thy people free;

from our fears and sins release us,

let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

hope of all the earth thou art;

dear desire of every nation,

joy of every longing heart."

(-Charles Wesley)