King Ahaz and the tribe of Judah were
terrified about the possibility of being attacked, so they turned to the Lord
in their distress. The Lord himself asks
Ahaz to ask him for a sign to show that he is with them, but Ahaz responds that
he will not put the Lord to the test.
Isaiah tells Ahaz that as a sign, the Virgin will conceive and give
birth to a Son, and that Son will be called Emmanuel. The name Emmanuel means “God is with
us.” We see this prophecy as being
fulfilled in the birth of Christ.
How often do we try to put the Lord to
the test? How often do we ask for a sign
from the Lord, a very specific sign that meets our own needs, our own desires,
our own selfish whims. There may be a
very specific sign we are asking of the Lord, but that may not be the sign he
is wanting to send us. The season of
Advent has a lot of signs that are sent to us – the Advent wreath, the nativity
scene, the hymns we sing, the sacrament of reconciliation. All of these signs are helping us journey
through Advent, helping us prepare for the birth of the Lord into our world at
Christmastime. How are we following the
signs, the devotions, and the rituals that the Lord is sending our way?
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