Advent | A Time to Prepare

As I was growing up, my spiritual tradition did not specifically include celebrating the liturgical church observance of Advent. Even with our own children, while we had Advent Calendars, devotionals and activities pointing toward the birth of Christ in the month of December, we didn’t partake of traditional Advent candle lightings and readings. Celebrating Advent is something I’ve begun in the past several years, and I highly recommend it as part of your spiritual practice.

Advent is a Latin word that means coming. The celebration of Advent is the celebration of the coming of Jesus, and it officially is observed each Sunday prior to Christmas, beginning the fourth Sunday before.

It is a time of introspection set aside to remember, anticipate, and worship the Christ who entered the world as a baby, lived a life of obedience, and sacrificed his life for our sins.

This year I purchased the Advent Study Guide Joy to the World from She Reads Truth. It is a lovely guide. It is full of beautiful, serene and joyous images, recipes, words to Christmas carols, contemplation questions, and space for journaling in addition to daily Scripture readings and prayers. It even includes a cross-stitch pattern and Scripture memory cards.

I’ve used other study materials from She Reads Truth, and always found them inspiring, encouraging, and beautiful. They have an app for your phone and you can purchase low-cost devotional studies that are available daily. They also offer some devotional studies for free, as well as the entire Bible in several versions from their app.

I encourage you to check into the She Reads Truth app, devotionals, and Advent materials. I believe they will be a blessing and encouragement to your Christian walk.

I pray you have a joyous and meaningful Advent season.

Which devotional materials are your favorite? Did you grow up celebrating Advent in the traditional liturgical sense? What did that mean to you? Please share in the comments.