The season of Advent is all about the coming of the Lord. It's something we don't think about all that often, however. We get busy with the day-to-day details of life and there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of time for much else.

We think about Jesus' arrival in terms of the baby in the manger. And we don't even have much time for that as we get busy with Christmas preparations. Shopping, wrapping, writing Christmas cards (oops, I haven't even started mine yet) occupy our time and we forget about the coming of the Lord. As Christmas draws closer, we get caught up with family and food and celebrating and we forget what the point of the celebration is.

We also forget about the return of the King. Maybe Tolkien's final story in the trilogy will help us remember this year when it comes out. However, there is a much mightier King returning than Aragorn. This is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And He has promised that He will return one day. He also warned us that we need to be ready when He comes.

Because this time Jesus will not be coming as a baby in a manger. He will not be coming as the humble and lowly Messiah. He will be returning in glory to judge the world. He has given us a second chance, but if we don't make use of it, it will pass away.

So what should we do to get ready? The first thing we need to do is invite Jesus into our hearts, to ask Him to forgive our sins, to accept that He died for us and was raised from the dead. We need to make His sacrifice personal and accept the offer of salvation. Once we do that, we need to live our lives as His disciples. He need to grow in our relationship with Him, get to know Him better, serve Him with our whole selves, make decisions that are pleasing to Him. Jesus wants to be our Lord as well as our Saviour. And we need to look forward to His coming, to anticipate that He will be returning one day. Because it may be today.

As we get ready to celebrate Advent and Christmas, let's remember that this season is about Jesus, about His coming into the world the first time and His promised return. And this year, let's really celebrate what God is doing in our lives.

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