GOD PAUSE DAILY DEVOTIONS

A few years ago, a pastor colleague and I were invited to an open house. Both of us thought that we knew where the house was, and so did not bother to write down the address. We drove up the long driveway and walked up to the door. We rang the bell and knocked at the door, but no one answered. We should have been suspicious that something was amiss when our car was the only one in the driveway.

But we were in a good mood and tried the door. It was unlocked. We walked in and hollered, "Yoo-hoo!" We went into the kitchen and there was no food being prepared. I looked at some unopened mail and half whispered, "I think that we are in the wrong house." We gently made our way out the door and into our car. We felt a bit like Goldilocks, and didn't want to be there when the bears came home.

"O Come, All Ye Faithful" can be an Advent roadmap guiding us to our destination. We are going to Bethlehem. Many people are already celebrating Christmas, but they are not going to make it to Bethlehem. The faithful are invited to come and check out the address, even if we are so sure that we know where we are going. Many will have the Goldilocks experience and end up with the bears instead of at the manager.