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Advent is about longing. It’s a time to remember the Israelites’ years of waiting for the Messiah, and to focus on our own longing for a deeper sense of Emmanuel in our daily lives as well as for Jesus’ return.

But let’s be honest. Unless we’re extremely intentional about regularly creating space to long for Jesus, it’s easy for our Advent longing to get mixed in with Christmas lists, shopping, parties, baking, wrapping, and Christmas movie marathons.

And let’s be even more honest. Many of us are not sure what “longing for Jesus’ return” even means for our daily life. The idea is pretty nebulous and can feel a little scary (especially if you’ve seen any end-times movies); it’s a big unknown, since our finite imaginations cannot stretch far enough to envision what heaven will be like. And when it comes right down to it, we tend to prefer what we know. In other words, our familiar life—even with its pain—is preferable to the overwhelmingly good but unimaginable realm of heaven.

So when Christmas day comes and the last Advent candle is lit, I think some of us are secretly relieved that we don’t have to dwell on Jesus’ second coming and can go back to our regularly comfortable relationship with God.

I’m about to ruin that for you.

Advent, if you didn’t know, is the start of the church year. It’s the jumping-in point that sets the tone for the rest of the calendar. So while each season (e.g., Epiphany, Lent, Easter) does have a particular focus, we’re not to forget the essence of the season before it.

What, then, should longing for Jesus’ return look like now, and in April, and in August? just happens to have some books that can help answer the question. So here’s my Christmas gift to you: book recommendations for mid-Advent and onward that can help us long for Jesus more.

Books That Foster Intimacy with Jesus

First, I think longing for Jesus’ return comes as we know him more and experience his vast love, care, truth, goodness, righteousness, and power in deeper ways. So books that help us be with God—sit with him, listen for and recognize his voice, reflect on his work and his Word—make for good “Advent and onward” reading. In this area, I highly recommend:

•  and  by Adele Calhoun
• David Benner’s trilogy—, , and —as well as his
•  and by Robert Mulholland
•  by Brent Bill and Beth Booram (which helps you be with God in some unique ways)

Books That Foster the Coming of God’s Kingdom

Another side to longing for Jesus’ return is longing for his peace and justice to reign, which most of us are probably already doing whether we recognize it or not. Our mourning over the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the violence in the Middle East and sex trafficking, for example, and our prayers for those situations are expressions of our longing for Jesus to come and set the world right. Books, then, that move us to participate in bringing his kingdom to reign on earth make for good “Advent and onward” reading. Here are a few I recommend:

• Julie Clawson’s
• Margot Starbuck’s
•  by Christine and Adam Jeske
• Mark Scandrette’s
•  by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
•  by Mae Elise Cannon
•  (a series edited by Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice)

A Year of Longing—and Hope

Of course, Advent is not just about longing. It’s also about hope: hope in a God who keeps his promises, and who is at work, even now, reconciling all of creation to himself. So even while we learn more about what it means to actively long for Jesus and his kingdom in our daily lives, we’re also to actively place our hope in him.

There’s a book to help us with that too. It’s called Revelation, and it offers us a peek at our longing fulfilled:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Until that day comes, we live in longing. We read, we grow, we participate, we pray. And we hope.

Lisa Rieck is a writer and copyeditor on ��ñ����’s communications team. She worked at  for over nine years as a proofreader and Bible study editor (and, as it were, resident limerick-writer). She is continually inspired by the beauty of the sky and loves good conversation with family and friends over steaming-hot beverages.

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