The Christmas season might seem like an odd time to turn to Ecclesiastes in your Bible. As December dawns, there’s no time to ponder the ephemerality of life—the house needs cleaning! The cookies need baking! The presents need wrapping! The family needs to be entertained! Or maybe the season that feels bereft of spare time is exactly the moment to ponder the fleeting nature of our lives.
We often engage a wide spectrum of experience during this unique season. Ecclesiastes bears testimony to the reality that there is a specific time for everything—for planting and sowing; for crying and laughing; for lamentation and celebration. Wherever the Christmas season finds you this year, you can take heart in the fact that God orders reality according to seasons and rhythms that are sometimes dark and sometimes light; sometimes heavy and sometimes full of levity.
In this Advent devotional from Christianity Today, we move through the cycle of morning, afternoon, and evening, each with its own tone and specific reality to press into. As we move through the weeks of Advent, this devotional guides us along a journey through times of renewal, trial, revelation, and ultimately to a time of wonder at the great gift that we have at Christmas: Christ’s incarnation on Earth, his taking on flesh for the sake of love and our salvation. Dive in, find the time to witness the days of Advent through the eyes of wonder, and join as we worship together.
