As a high school football player at Benedictine High School in Cleveland, Ohio, our team did not have a field on our campus. As such, we had to run to a local park that was about a mile away from the school. Once the entire team was dressed for practice and our coaches - who traveled to the field in a van with water and other equipment - gave us the okay, we were to start running to the field.
However, we would walk until one of the sophomores on the team tasked with "van duty" would shout "Van!" as he saw it pull out of the school's parking lot.
Most of the time this strategy proved successful. The young scout would spot the van and alert the rest of the team of its coming.
Sometimes, though, the spotter would get caught acting like a typical 15 year old boy and miss the van's arrival, causing the team to endure more sprints and the offending player to have a rough practice.
Other times the coaches, who undoubtedly knew our strategy, would take a side street and catch us unaware and slacking.
We could have - and in hindsight should have - just ran anyways and without the presence of the coaching staff. Instead, though, we sacrificed building our endurance to play this game of cat and mouse.
This Advent, let's stop playing the game of consumerism attached to Christmas and instead run the race of faith that has been marked out for us as disciples of Christ.
This first week of Advent, Christ commands us, "Be vigilant at all times" and "and pray that (we) have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36). Jesus encourages us to beware - to be aware - of not becoming "drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch (us) by surprise like a trap" (Luke 21:34-35).
Let us not rely on a scout to warn us that Christ is coming. Christ has told us Himself!
Let's wake up and run!
Let's stay awake and keep running!
Keep your eyes open to the wonders God has wrought in our midst - healing the centurion's servant (11/29/21), feeding the 5,000 (12/1/21), and literally opening the eyes of the blind person (12/3/21).
Continue to listen to the words of the Word of Life, who today is speaking life into our dry bones, inviting us into discipleship and to take part in His saving mission (11/30/21 and 12/4/21).
Heed His messages and build your life on the solid rock of Christ (12/2/21).
Wake up from your slumber. Glory is waiting...and coming.
*If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you know that I am a huge fan of music and often accompany my ideas with songs. Below I propose a soundtrack for Week 1 of Advent. This won't even come close to the typical sounds of the season, but I hope it helps you to wake up, stay awake and keep running the race of faith: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/69nnfNJXHR52zsBPhfUgGB?si=f609103a1d964b0f.
