Five Reasons To Celebrate Advent

Advent wreath with five candles set in greenery. A white candle is in the middle and three purple and one pink candle surround it. — Advent wreaths are used to celebrate Advent [Image from Wikimedia Commons]

In December, Christmas is uppermost in most Americans’ minds. While busy counting down the days until the holiday, buying gifts, and attending parties, believers often miss out on experiencing what leads up to Christmas. They overlook the sacred time on many faith calendars preceding Christmas known as Advent. Not familiar with it? Take a few minutes to learn more about and to consider five reasons to celebrate Advent.

What’s Advent?

In many churches Advent is a four-week season spent in preparing for Jesus’ birth on Christmas. The period’s name comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning coming or arrival. Advent begins on the Sunday closest to November 30 and ends on December 24.

Scripture does not mandate the observance of Advent. Nevertheless, the church practice has been in existence from at least 480. Each week of Advent focuses on a different theme—hope, peace, joy, and love. Common activities during this season include using an Advent calendar, reading Advent devotions, lighting candles on an Advent wreath, and hearing special Scripture readings on Sunday. Four colored candles, three purple (for hope, peace, and love) and one pink candle (for joy). sit in the Advent wreath. Their lighting occurs on successive Sunday and Christmas Eve. The center of the wreath may contain a white candle, the Christ candle, lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Tiles with black letters have been put together to form the word "FOCUS." — Focusing our mind on Jesus is one reason to celebrate Advent [Image by Homegrounds from Pixabay]

Celebrating Advent Helps Believers Focus

Celebrating Advent helps believers fix their minds on the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus’ arrival. Without this church period to orient them to the religious significance of Christmas, believers may easily be swept up in a worldly view of the holiday. A structured set of church practices and observances directs thinking to the Christ in Christmas. Rampant commercialism in today’s world associated with the holiday necessitates a redirection of thought. Christmas is NOT about what we will receive from friends or loved ones or even what we will give to them. The essence of Christmas involves the gift God gave to the world by sending His son into it. Advent devotional readings emphasize the Scriptural, not commercial, basis for Christmas.

A Period Of Waiting

The Advent season emphasizes the idea of waiting. The Israelites waited, and waited, and waited an incredibly long time for God to send them the promised Messiah. The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive and give birth to a baby boy. But Mary did not receive her bundle of joy right away. She waited for months during an unanticipated pregnancy for the appearance of her son. Even with the birth of Jesus, waiting remains. Believers today await His Second Coming at some unknown future time. Advent helps develop a discipline of waiting.

Understanding the waiting involved in the appearance of the Messiah at the first Christmas heightens believers’ appreciation for God’s long-term plan for salvation. Devotions during Advent point to God’s promise and prophecies about the Messiah long before His birth. This awareness enhances the joy felt in the days leading up to and on Christmas.

Waist shot of couple wearing white t-shirts and blue jeans holding a white heart over the woman's pregnant belly. — Advent stresses waiting, such as Mary awaiting the birth of her baby [Image by Petra R from Pixabay]

Celebrate Advent To Increase Anticipation

Considering Christmas and its true meaning during Advent increases believers’ anticipation for the day of Jesus’ birth. And anticipation is a big part of any event. Taking time to learn about a vacation destination before departure, for example, makes travelers even more eager to go after finding out how wonderful the place will be. That anticipation keeps the upcoming event foremost in their minds. In the case of Jesus, His appearance on this earth looms as a highly anticipated event given the glowing descriptors set out in Isaiah 9:6, a traditional Advent reading.

Preparation’s A Reason To Celebrate Advent

Most expectant parents cherish the time preceding their baby’s birth. This period allows them to learn more about caring for a baby, gather needed clothing and baby equipment, and consider names to bestow on their offspring. How much more enjoyable the day of birth turns out when needed preparations have been accomplished.

Advents offers the same opportunity to believers. In fact, God sent John the Baptist to tell the people to “prepare the way for the Lord.” Rather than merely counting down the days until December 25th, Christians can prepare their hearts for Jesus’ arrival. Daily Advent devotions allow time to shift heart concerns from what God can do for us to what God already did by sending His son. Reading these devotions requires making time daily for the Lord to prepare for the upcoming celebration of His arrival on earth.

A Time For Education

The Christmas story’s familiarity may lull Christians into believing they know all about it. But do we? While we know the circumstances of Jesus’ birth, what led up to His arrival? For how long did God have this plan? What Old Testament prophecies foretold the Messiah’s coming? What was Jesus’ mission once present on earth? From a simple story about a child born in a stable, believers can peel back the layers of the onion and learn about the big picture. God’s planning and attention to detail discussed during Advent provides deeper understanding of and appreciation for Jesus’ arrival.

Reasons To Celebrate Advent

What if the most wonderful time of the year could be even more wonderful? Celebrating Advent may provide more joy at Christmas for believers. Reasons to celebrate Advent include focusing on the reason for the season, developing a discipline of waiting, increasing anticipation for Christmas, allowing time to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ arrival, and offering education on the backstory and significance of the Messiah’s arrival. And to add to the season’s beauty, the glowing candles of the Advent wreath point to the coming Light of the World.