Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Friday, December 8
By Jim Lantrip
Behold, Your God!
Read: Zechariah 6:12-13
“The king shall come when morning dawns and light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills and life to joy awakes.
And let the endless bliss begin by weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong and truth shall be extolled.”
This stirring hymn, formerly included in our Methodist hymnal, was translated by Scottish Presbyterian minister John Brownlee from scripture in Acts 1:11 and Matthew 24:27; to me, it expresses the essence of Advent’s meaning.
Advent is a time for drawing closer to our Christian faith. How does one do this? On a practical level the living out of Christian virtues in our personal lives can be demonstrated in many ways. We can show more loving kindness to other people. We can show more empathy and less self-centeredness. We can ask Almighty God for more understanding of His will in our lives.
The prophet Zechariah, writing hundreds of years before Jesus’s birth, was seen by many Christians to forsee the Advent season in this scripture:
“Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘There is the man whose name is the Branch and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who builds the temple of the Lord and he will be clothed and will sit and rule on the throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’” – Zechariah 6:12-13
One of the themes of Zechariah is that God is at work in our world and His deeds are accomplished “not by might nor power but by My spirit,” meaning the Lord’s spirit. Advent inspires a deepening of our faith through prayer and meditation. We seek God’s answers for the challenges in our lives.
Prayer
Tree of life, help us feel rooted in our understanding of your will in our lives so that we may branch out into your world to spread the good news of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.
