Is. 64:1-9; Ps. 80:1-7, 17-18; I Cor. 1:3-9; Mk. 13:24-37
I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS
At Advent, Christians wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We wait to realize again that God/Jesus is with us.
We forget that He has been with us throughout time. Genesis 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Then later in the same chapter, v. 27, it says “God created man in his own image . . . male and female he created them.” How much more “with us” could He be?
Throughout the Israeli journeys God talked to and led them. He was there with Noah, David, Abraham, Joshua and others.
The story continues to Mary, Jesus’ mother. God’s messenger, Gabriel, told her, “Greetings . . . the Lord is with you” (Lk. 1:28). God continued to be close in the New Testament. As Jesus traveled healing, feeding, loving, God was with the people.
At the end of Jesus’ physical life, as he was dying, Mary was there, and God, His Father, our Father, was with them both.
As Jesus prepared to ascend to the Father’s right hand, He told the disciples (and us), “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).
This year while “waiting” for Jesus, take stock of the many times you have needed Jesus and He has been there, whether you knew it or not. Jesus is always with us.
–Judy Richman