ADVENT – WEEK 2

The focus of the second week of Advent is love. Today “love” refers to the feeling one has toward pizza, a good movie, the weather or a life partner. A bit overused, so perhaps the message “You are loved by God!” doesn’t hold much weight. But you are, in fact, loved by God and everything he did to secure your adoption as his child was done because you are deeply loved.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses gives his final words to the children of Israel before he dies and they go into the Promised Land. He reminds them of the past and warns them to remain faithful to God when they get into the land and everything is going well.

Like many of us, the Israelites were confused about why someone would choose them as his special treasure. “Was it something we did?” they asked themselves. “Is it because we are a powerful nation?” they wonder. Moses brings them back to reality; the reality they are deeply loved by God.

 ⁶For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. ⁷“The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! ⁸Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you. . .

Deuteronomy 7:6-8

Peter reminds reminds me that believers are God’s very own possession, his chosen people. He points out my responsibiity to being chosen, revealing my purpose as a child of God.

⁹But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9

I am called out of darkness into the light of God for what reason? So that I might display the goodness of God to those around me. I am not loved merely to bask in and soak up God’s love, but to impact the people around me.

As you go throughout your day think on this: am I displaying the goodness of God for others to see? Will others be drawn to Christ because of my presence in this place (put in there the places you show up whether it be your physical body or your online presence.)

Let’s not waste the opportunity the love of God affords us to be changed and, in turn, to change our world!