Three days into December and my kids are jubilant that it’s advent. Are they eager to slow down the pace of life to contemplate the arrival of their Lord and Saviour all those years ago?

No. They want chocolate every morning.

Advent didn’t originate as an excuse to treat ourselves. The word advent comes from the Latin to come, it was about preparation for the one who would come forth from the littlest clan of Judah (Micah 5:2), from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), the one who would come in humility. Jesus’ arrival, while humble, was huge: everything changed. And as early as the 4^th century, Christians recognised the significance of this arrival. Celebrating advent began. An opportunity to fast and pray, hunker down, quieten ourselves and remember our need for a Saviour.

What originated as a form of Lent has morphed into another means to serve and focus on ourselves. For example, for a mere $195,000 you can have a diamond advent calendar and daily expand your jewellery collection. Gucci watch on 14 December anyone?

At what point did advent become about us?

“Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored… But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself?” Romans 8:8-11 MSG

We’re only on 3 December. It’s not too late to remember that “the alive-and-present God” has moved into our neighbourhoods and into our very lives!

Let’s not ignore Jesus this advent. Make Him front and centre and see if this year doesn’t become an advent when you receive far more than chocolate or diamonds!