O come, let us press on now with worship and service of Jesus!
By Dean Collins
O come let us…
I am confident you filled in the last two words. One of our most familiar Christmas carols will be played and heard over and over in these last few days leading up to Christmas morning. This wonderful carol beckons for us to come together in adoration for the gift of a Savior born In Bethlehem and now in our hearts. We sing in joyful adoration following the example of the angel choir that the shepherds heard in the early hours the night Jesus was born.
There are many places in Scripture where God’s beloved of old as well as believers today are called to work, worship, and pray together. While each of us must make our own decision concerning trusting Jesus as our Savior and serving him as Lord, when we surrender to Jesus we enter a community of faith that is called together to demonstrate God’s love to the world. Through our fellowship with each other, we gain strength and conviction to obey the Scripture’s admonition.
Press on!
“Let us press on to know the Lord,” the prophet Hosea told God’s people long ago. Paul told the Philippians, “I press on,” to fully know the Lord’s salvation. And the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”
We can know and we can press on to know more and more about God because he will keep all of his promises. According to Hosea, we can be as confident in the Lord as we are that the sun will rise tomorrow and that the rain will come again and water the earth. “His going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it is his; he has and will always provide for his creation.
Adore him!
In this season of Advent, we have confidence in the second coming of Christ because we have evidence that he was born of a virgin in Bethlehem long ago just as the prophets foretold. If God delivered on all the promises of the first Advent, then we can be sure he will keep all his promises to come again and restore all things.
So as we wait, “let us adore him.” And let us press on to share his love with others through words of encouragement, with prayers for others, and in tangible expressions of God’s love to those in need.
Your time with God’s Word
Hosea 6:3, 6; Philippians 3:12-14; Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
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