Advent

It means “coming.”

Ann Voskamp writes in the introduction, “When you open the pages of Scripture to read of His coming, of this first Advent before you ever read of the birth of Jesus, you always have the genealogy of Jesus. It’s the way the Gift unwraps: you have Christ’s family tree… before you have a Christmas tree.”

What a breath of fresh air for me. I have been reading this book each day for the 25 days of Advent the last two years. For some reason this year, it has prompted me to be more serious about the Origin of Christmas. She is correct. She goes on to explain a tree is nothing without its roots. It’s just a jumbled mess of branches, waiting for the next storm to blow it down, taking advantage of its weakness.

When Christ was born, no one cared about your identity through your lifestyle. What they cared about was your lineage- your family determined your future. Your origin mattered. Christ came from a feisty group which included all the drama of a good novel. The best novel, actually. Men were in charge and women were invisible. Except…

In the family of Christ, four women were claimed by Jesus. They were loved unconditionally and appreciated immensely. “Women who were weary of being taken advantage of, unnoticed, uncherished, unappreciated; women who didn’t fit in, who didn’t know how to keep going, what to believe, where to go- women who had thought about giving up. And Jesus claims exactly these who are wandering and wondering and wounded and worn out as His.” Ann Voskamp’s words ring true and speak to my heart on the days I don’t feel strong.

Is it crazy to think after all this time, I could feel refreshed and rejuvenated reading those words from scripture which point me in the direction of Christ because I feel exactly as the women He served felt?

All this technology, modernity and contemporary madness and all I really need is Jesus, who allows me to simply come to Him and be His. This Gift of Christ is shoved aside for shopping and presents and wish lists and fancy parties and dinner. It’s set on the back burner, celebrated by a few one day of the year. Much like his death, his birth has been compacted to a single twenty-four-hour period of celebration and twisted with tradition.

What if we reclaim Advent as our own?

What if we make the choice to study and grow and learn about our Savior, the one who died so we may be free?

What if we take a chance on ourselves as Christ did?

What if we pour our heart out for Him to claim?

Everyone is busy. I know what hectic looks like. I understand you have a life and kids and a job and a mountain of laundry and a lot of responsibilities. You also have salvation handed to you and in the grand scheme of things we can absolutely carve out time with our kids or husbands or friends to study for a few minutes each evening about the One who saves us all. There is no greater Gift then Jesus.

Without Jesus, there is no Christmas.

Let’s find out together where he came from and who he is. Let’s find out where we came from and who we are in Him.

If you would like to follow along, I will have a scripture straight from the book posted each day here on my website, on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and Linked In.

If you would like to read along, you can get the book at these retailers. There is also a family version and an interactive book available.

Ann Voskamp The Greatest Gift

Amazon

Barnes and Noble