First Sunday of Advent

Read It:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Reflect on It:
Today, the first day of Advent, we see that we are being called to stay awake, to be alert. We are called to be people who wait. We always wait on the Lord, even when we're not comfortable with this waiting. It might be hard, but we are made for the next world, not this world. We have to stay awake and be alert. I think there are a lot of things we miss from the busyness of our lives. If we knew the hour that our house was going to be robbed, we would stay home...we wouldn't go out.  This is what we should be like...I'm not saying never go out, what I am saying is that we have to be ready for the Lord to come today. Don't wait for confession, don't wait for the craziness, go now and be ready for the Lord. Stay alert.

Pray about it: Lord, help me to live today like it's your second coming. I want to be ready and alert for you when you come back. Help me to live your love today. Amen.

Live it! Challenge: Today, think about one way you can ready yourself for Christ and what he is asking from you in order to be ready for his coming again. Do that thing.