The First Sunday in Advent
December 1, 2024
(Luke 21:29–36, NIV84) “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.””
In chapter 21 of Luke’s Gospel Jesus has been comparing the coming destruction of Jerusalem to Judgment Day, when he will come again in power.
He warns us to be ready, and be careful that the glitter and temptations of this world and the anxieties of life do not deceive us and lead us away from him.
We can stand before Jesus on the last day having confessed our faith and in our hearts believing Jesus is our only Savior and Redeemer from all our sins.
Whether it be sudden death that comes upon us or the actual day Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead, that moment is coming.
“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Prayer
O Lord, we beseech Thee to stir up Thy power and come, so that by thy protection we may be rescued from the perils of our sins and saved by Thy mighty deliverance. This we ask through Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord. Amen
