Thought of the Day !!

In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
Matthew 3:1-2 (NLT)

This Sunday will be the first Sunday in the season of Advent. Advent is a time when we look forward to the arrival of the baby in the manger at Christmas. It's a time of preparation. We prepare our hearts and our minds for the greatest gift ever given humankind. I'm of course speaking of the gift of Jesus; his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection (the whole package).

As we prepare ourselves this Advent season, let's remember another time when preparation was being taught. John the Baptist was preaching to the people in his day to prepare themselves for the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and Jesus' rule over their lives.

The key component of preparation for John is the same for us today. It's repentance. To truly prepare ourselves for Jesus we must repent of our sins. To repent means to turn, or to change direction. When we repent, we turn from our sin. But in turning from sin, we must also turn toward God. This is the repentance that John preached about. This is the repentance that will help us this Advent season to prepare for the gift of Christmas.

This year as we prepare the trees, prepare the food, prepare for gifts and family and so on, let us also prepare our hearts and our lives so that they will be holy and acceptable to God.

In the love of Christ,
greg