Gifts wrapped, tree decorated — still not ready for Christmas
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” (Colossians 1:13)
How many times over the coming weeks will you be asked “Are you ready?” or “Do you have all your preparation done?” or something similar?
You know what those questions are focused on. They are asking if you have the presents bought, the decorations put up, the food prepared and all the other earthly preparations made.
When you are asked such questions over the next few weeks, I’d like it to be a reminder to you to 
check if you are prepared for something else that is much more important. Are you ready to celebrate the greatest rescue mission ever – Jesus coming to earth to rescue you from your sins?
Paul puts it rather colorfully in our verse for this week, “he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” The “dominion of darkness” refers to the disaster sin, Satan and our sinful flesh have inflicted on our lives. We all know and have experienced the darkness of sin in our lives. We have experienced the guilt, shame and other darkening effects of sin.
BUT, Jesus came and rescued us from all that. That’s the coming we really need to be getting ready for during Advent. That’s the gift wrapped in strips of cloth we look forward to receiving in the manger. We are getting ready to again celebrate a baby who was born to be our Savior.
We all know well the many distractions that will try to take our time and attention over the next month. Each distraction and diversion that happens between now and December 25 is “the dominion of darkness” trying to wreak havoc in our spiritual lives. Be on guard against those distractions and let them be reminders to heighten your spiritual preparation!
To help you in your Advent preparation and readiness, take a look at Martin Luther College’s Advent devotional book, which has daily Advent devotions for December 1-25.