Losing and gaining 

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)

Christmas is strongly associated with getting and giving gifts. During Advent we move on a journey towards celebrating the greatest gift of all - the birth of Jesus Christ.

Losing a gift is the flip side of getting one. One of my friends was distraught when he lost his wedding ring whilst swimming in very cold water; it just slipped off his shrunken cold finger.

Contestants on the quiz show The Chase usually opt to hang onto the cash they win in their cash builder round. They rarely choose to risk losing what they’ve won by gambling on their chances of winning a much larger amount offered by The Chaser.

Research shows that people fear the loss of what they have more than the joy of a gamble gain. Many people fear the loss of things they value most at this time of rising inflation, higher fuel costs etc.

Decluttering your home is a good New Year’s resolution plan. This may entail painful losses as you get rid of some treasured trophies invested with happy memories, but the more we possess over and above what we use, the more burdens of caring for them we carry.

Paradoxically, some loss is gain. When Jesus was born, his mother Mary lost him from her body so He could be born into our world. We look forward during this Advent season to celebrating Mary’s loss that gives us all we can gain through the birth of Jesus Christ.
 
Prayer - Oh Lord, give me the wisdom and courage to release what I don’t need so I can gain what I need most during this Advent season. Amen