Yet as I rounded the corner and approached the storefront, my mood quickly changed. Feverishly scanning the crowd and realized I was among the Fortunate Ones. My heart leaped for joy! Racing, even floating, to the line, I did a head count: I was number 18. Standing there with a glad smug satisfaction—“I’m number 18!!” I wanted to shout to the world—I pondered my response. Then it hit me. “Why don’t I doorbust Advent with the same eagerness and determination as doorbusting Black Friday?

Lord,

Today begins yet another Advent season.

I know, I know. I should have a sense of anticipation, grandeur, and awe as I prepare my heart, mind, and will for Christ’s coming.

Yet, truth be told (and as you already know!), my heart feels dry, dull, and dead. It especially occurred to me during this past Black Friday. Biking to the store before dawn on a freezing, dark, and brittle Minnesota morning (a fitting metaphor for my heart), my hopes of being one of the 30 doorbusters to cash in on a sweet deal were dim.

Yet as I rounded the corner and approached the storefront, my mood quickly changed. Feverishly scanning the crowd and realized I was among the Fortunate Ones. My heart leaped for joy! Racing, even floating, to the line, I did a head count: I was number 18.

Standing there with a glad smug satisfaction—”I’m number 18!!” I wanted to shout to the world—I pondered my response. Then it hit me. “Why don’t I doorbust Advent with the same eagerness and determination as doorbusting Black Friday?”

And so, at the beginning of Advent 2013, would you, the Giver of all good things, please forgive me for my dull heart? Would you grant deep repentance where it is needed? And would you gift me with greater childlike wonder, faith, and joy as I ponder Christ’s Incarnation? Would that I freshly experience this “joy to the world!” And so as I read your Word, sing Advent songs, and lift prayers to you—amid all of the good and necessary material Christmas preparations—may my heart be changed to prepare him room. In short, make me an Advent doorbuster.

Do this for your glory and my joy, and the joy of others.

In the name of King Jesus, whom I long to adore both now and forever,

Amen

Michael L. Johnson lives in Minneapolis, Minn., a graduate of University of Minnesota and Reformed Theological Seminary, and exploring planting a new church in the North Loop area of Minneapolis. This article is from his blog and is used with permission.

[Editor’s note: The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]