If ever there was a week that could benefit from a focus on peace, it’s this week. The run-up to Christmas can be quite stressful in most households-holiday preparations are at a frenzied pace, last minute shopping, wrapping, baking, and cleaning have tight deadlines, company is coming and going, and it’s easy to lose sight of the reason we are celebrating at all. Take a few moments (for your sanity’s sake!) and make time for your journal each day this week. If you’re lighting candles in an Advent Wreath, today you probably lit the last candle in the circle. Was it pink or purple? This is the one we light on the Sunday before Christmas. This year, let’s focus on peace as we reflect in the coming days.
A special note: Since I don’t know what day Christmas will be falling on when you are reading this, I’ve included a few extra mediation/writing prompts for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Feel free to substitute them onto the actual days of the holiday if you wish!
Fourth Sunday in Advent: Read Micah 5:2-5a. This familiar Scripture heralds the coming of Christ. Why do you call Christ “the Prince of Peace”? How does your faith bring peace to your heart and to your life?
Monday: Read Psalm 80:1-7. Pay special attention to the last verse in the reading. Do you feel that God has restored you and makes His face shine upon you? Why or why not?
Tuesday: Read Hebrews 10:5-10. What will you do in the coming days to present yourself as a ‘sacrifice pleasing to God’?
Wednesday: Read Isaiah 9:6-7. What do you need to do to bring more of Christ’s peace into your life this week?
Thursday: Read John 14:27. Who is the most peaceful person you know? What is his or her secret? Can you find the same peace? How?
Friday: Read Psalm 34:11-14. The Bible is full of advice about how to achieve the kind of peace promised from a deep relationship with the Lord. If you were writing advice to a loved one about how to achieve this kind of life-changing peace, what would you say?
Saturday: Read Colossians 3:15-17. What is the relationship between thankfulness and peace? What does this suggest to you?
Christmas Eve: Read Luke 1: 68-75. What does God’s Advent into our world mean to you personally? How has this event, which happened so long ago, come alive again for you each year?
Christmas Day: Read Luke 2:1-20. Describe the scenes from this story in your best story-telling style. Engage all the senses, and make the story come alive.
Related:
Advent Journaling Week 1: Hope