Looking ahead to Advent

In recent years, Martin Luther College has developed some booklets of seasonal devotions.  (You can access them online).

For the upcoming Advent season, MLC will be producing a sort of "Advent calendar" booklet of devotions -- a devotion for each day of December leading up to Christmas.

I was asked to arrange authors for this year's booklet.  A variety of writers who've worked with me have participated in the project.  As a sneak peek preview, I'll share one of the devotional messages here at this time.  When the project is published in a few months, I'll share further information.

The following message was written by Kaylee Messman.  You might be interested also in visiting Kaylee's Bookmarks and Coffee Mugs blog, where she shares thoughts and reviews for book lovers.

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Come to Me

by Kaylee Messman

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).

The opening scene of the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life takes place on Christmas Eve 1945. A depressed George Bailey is standing on a bridge, contemplating taking his own life. The burdens of the world have caught up to him and have driven him to the edge. Instead of being at home celebrating the season with his wife and children, George is teetering on the edge, about to succumb to the weight of this sinful world.

            There are times when we are like George Bailey. We live in a sinful world that often throws situations our way that can be too big for us to handle alone. Like George, we sometimes lose sight of the best message of Christmas, which is rest for our souls that can only be found in Christ Jesus.  The “weary and burdened” nature of life Jesus spoke about was the hurt, the frustrations, and life’s hardness that weigh us down as direct and indirect results of living as sinners in a sinful world.  He promises that if we bring our problems to him in prayer, he will provide the solution.  What George Bailey’s daughter kept playing on the piano is the message we need most of all:  “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”  Jesus—and only Jesus—provides the comfort and rest our souls need.

Heavenly Father, when life becomes too much for us, lead us to come to you in prayer and lay our burdens at your feet. Grant us the peace that comes from your Son’s birth and the comfort he promised us in his word. In your name we pray. Amen.