Second Week of Advent: Monday, December 9, 2024

The Second Week of Advent: Monday, December 9, 2024

In yesterday’s sermon, Don’t Be A Grinch, we took a look at what the animated Christmas TV Special How The Grinch Stole Christmas can teach us about getting ready for Christmas. The devotions this week will be based on Sunday’s sermon.

When we meet the Grinch he’s high above Whoville in his mountain cave, looking down on the Whos as they go about their Christmas preparations. He snarls and we’re told that he hates Christmas. The narrator tells us that no one knows why the Grinch hates Christmas. Perhaps it was that his shoes were too tight, or that his head wasn’t screwed on just right. But he suspects the reason is that the Grinch’s heart was two sizes too small. So the Grinch had a heart problem. That’s why he was grumpy and had such a bad disposition.

Like the Grinch, we too have a heart problem. Jesus tells us where spiritual uncleanness is found: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. These are the things that defile a person; …” (Matthew 15:19–20a).

The Grinch’s heart problem prevented him from joining the Whos in Whoville in getting ready for Christmas with joy. Our heart problem is the obstacle in our preparations for Christ’s coming, too.

Advent is a season of preparation. We prepare to celebrate the anniversary of His first coming. We also prepare for His Second Coming when He returns again in glory to judge all people and to renew the entire creation.

God helped the people of first-century Israel prepare for the coming of Jesus by sending John the Baptist ahead of Him. John called people to repent of their sins and to believe in the promise of God to send a Savior that was about to be fulfilled. The preparation is a spiritual or inner preparation.

We prepare for His comings the same way today. We repent of our sins and believe in the Savior that God sent thus celebrating His first coming and anticipating His glorious return.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for your promise to return again to renew all things and to usher me and all believers into an eternal paradise. The day-to-day activities of life can cause me to forget about that promise. Keep it before me, and help me to be prepared for the day when you finally fulfill that promise. Amen.