Advent starts next Sunday. Our church is putting together an Advent devotion book. Each church member will receive a copy, and we will put a copy in each of the soldier boxes we’ll pack next week. Each church member was asked to submit a devotion. It had to be brief and include a Bible verse, a devotion and a prayer.

Advent Wreath

I wrote two devotionals. First I wrote the one below. I read the scripture verse, and then I wrote what I thought of as I read it. Now that I’ve already submitted it to the person doing the devotion booklet, I’m second guessing myself – wondering whether I may have stretched my thinking a little too far. For what it’s worth, here is my devotion:

Scripture: When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” Luke 2:15 (New Revised Standard)

When I read this scripture, it makes me think of curiosity. The shepherds hurried away immediately so they could see the baby Jesus for themselves. Sure, the angels sent them to Bethlehem, but they weren’t just blindly following directions. They were curious, and they wanted to go.

Have you ever noticed how children are so openly curious? They ask the obvious questions that adults are often hesitant to ask. They thoroughly explore their world. No small detail escapes their notice. Sometimes they can overwhelm us with their questions. Curiosity is innate in us. It’s is a gift from God. However it is a gift that we too often overlook and even suppress as we get older. After all, it’s not considered “cool” or “mature” to be too curious.

Curiosity is a good thing to develop – especially at Christmas. We need to be curious about what we can do for the people and the world around us – about what God can say to us through the Scriptures – and about what the Christmas story means to us personally. Let’s commit ourselves to a curious Advent.

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, help us to be curious – to read and study the Word that you have provided to guide us. Help us to be curious – to learn about the needs of others so that we can serve you through serving them. Help us to be curious – to open our hearts and minds to the gift of your Son. Amen.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 pm and is filed under Holidays, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.