Printer-friendly  |  Email to a friend

Advent devotions 2007

December 4 - Waiting is not a passive act
By Kathryn Schlabach, a sophomore molecular biology and biochemistry double major from Turner, Ore.

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSV)
Scroll down for complete scripture.

Devotional:
Advent is a period of waiting. Unfortunately, waiting is something I have never been fond of. Ask my parents. As a child, waiting for dinner, in the line at the grocery store, for an event to begin or really for anything at all made me absolutely antsy with expectation bordering impatience. As I've grown older, I have begun to understand that waiting for something adds value and significance.

While patience in waiting is a virtue, passiveness is not. Passive waiting indicates a lack of interest, an attitude of apathy. Advent is supposed to be a period of expectant waiting, eager anticipation of Christ's coming. The return of Christ described in Isaiah 11 is beautiful: new life springing forth from a barren stump; righteousness and justice for the downcast; peace between beast and child, the strong and the weak. How can anyone be passive in waiting for that? The knowledge that a day is coming when no one will harm or destroy, when the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, should absolutely thrill us with anticipation! This is certainly something worth waiting for, but we should not be waiting passively. Yet so often we forget, becoming caught up in the Christmas rush, never remembering that this day is coming.

As you wait this Advent season, be it in line at the store, in traffic on the highway or for the joy of Christmas day, remember to anticipate with joy the day when the little child shall lead the calf, the lion and the yearling together, the true day of peace on earth, goodwill towards all.

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSV)
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Posted at 17:44 #