Ahhh Advent. My favorite time of the year. Today's scripture from the First Testament is from Jeremiah.
These verses remind us of the Jewish heritage of the coming Christ. We are reminded that the messiah will come from the house of Judah....this is where we get the "root of Jesse" and "branch of David" bits. And this is where one of my favorite advent traditions comes from.
When I was at First Christian in Jeffersonville, Bruce Barkhauer was very adamant about the celebration of Advent. No tree, no Christmas before Christmas!!! What we did have, was a Jesse tree-- a bare branch on which we hung ornaments telling the Old Testament history of the anticipated child. We were celebrating Jesus' Jewish heritage- and it mattered. A lot.
I think it's easy to get caught up in the Christmas-ness and forget Advent.
"O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave."