God, help me to prepare my heart for your sign. Read Isaiah 8:13-18. Advent is the time of preparation. This week, we prepare our hearts by seeking God’s peace and looking for a sign. Yesterday we read from Isaiah 7, where God sent word that God would send a sign and the sign would be that a virgin would give birth to a child and his name would be called “Immanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” As the prophet continues in Chapter 8, we see the importance of waiting and trusting. “I will wait for the LORD…I will put my trust in God.” The writer of Hebrews quotes these verses of Isaiah when writing about the humanity of Jesus. God took the form of human flesh as a baby in Bethlehem and lived among the people. God’s sign that God is present with us is the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son, our Savior. There is another little wrinkle in the Isaiah passage. Isaiah wrote that we are the signs of God’s presence. What? Yes, you are a sign from God that God is at work in the world. When you worship God, you are a sign. When your faith is in Jesus, you are a sign. When you commit to doing good works for the glory of God, you are a sign. Another way Jesus words it is, “you shall be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8) A witness is a person who points people to God. A sign is anything that points people to God and communicates that God is with us. Let us be signs and witnesses for God, who is real.

Lord, thank you for giving us a sign that you are indeed real and you are with us. Help us to be signs of Christ Jesus for all who encounter us. Help us to point people to you. Amen.