Dear Sister,
Almost every December, my unrealistic hopes and dreams fall apart at some point. My family gets hit by the flu, ravaged by a stomach bug, or plagued by lingering head colds. My joy falters when a holiday tradition doesn’t go as I planned. My self-confidence cracks when I discover an email buried in my inbox about buying a special gift for that night’s Christmas party. My face falls in shame when I realize I forgot a gift for my child’s beloved teacher. When my Christmas expectations run up against the reality of life in a fallen world, my heart is quick to covet the picture-perfect Christmas images plastered all over social media. When I set my hope in my ability to create the perfect Christmas, the Advent season turns from wonderful to stressful faster than a batch of freshly baked Christmas cookies turns to leftover crumbs on the plate.
One year, exhausted by this annual pattern, I decided to put a note to myself in one of my Christmas storage bins as I was packing up decor to hopefully break the cycle the next year. Through tear-filled eyes and with a weary and worn-out heart, I scratched reminders to my soul that Jesus came to pay the price for my sins—including my bad attitude and my sinful self-confidence that rages against resting in Christ and surrendering my plans to him. Thankfully, God doesn’t keep a legal pad of my sin and insufficiencies. When God looks at me, he sees the righteousness of his Son covering me. While every moment in the season of Advent won’t feel wonderful, magical, or meaningful, Advent can be a season of worship as we focus our hearts and minds on Christ, the Lamb of God, whose shed blood covers our shortcomings, short-sightedness, and short tempers.
Over two thousand years ago, upon seeing Jesus Christ, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). For thousands of years, Israelite priests had offered daily animal sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people, according to the law God had given them. So embers from lambs’ flesh were still burning in the temple when John spoke these prophetic words that burned to a crisp the people’s expectations of the Messiah. Jesus wasn’t a warrior king coming to wield his sword against the people’s political enemies. He was the Lamb of God who would willingly lay down his life on the cross like the animals that were sacrificed in the temple day after day—his innocent blood spilled as the perfect sacrifice to cover our sins and cleanse us. John’s voice still echoes in the wilderness, calling us to walk the straight paths of the Lord with our eyes fixed on Jesus, abandoning our pride, our vain attempts to earn God’s love, and our past sins and failures.
This is the good news we celebrate and soak our souls in during Advent. When we behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the fire of his Word burns away our unrealistic expectations, settles our debts, restores our joy, and unchains us from the insurmountable burden of sin. So we worship the Lamb like the angels do in Revelation 5:12, declaring, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” This Advent season, let us worship the worthy Lamb of God!
Beholding the Lamb,
Gretchen
Founder of Well-Watered Women
P.S. Worthy is the Lamb is available in the Well-Watered Co. TODAY, and you can save 10% on the study when you bundle the study with our corresponding Advent card set or kids card set! Find answers to all questions about this year’s Advent Collection below!