Joy In Waiting For Christmas

I love Christmas!!! Let me say it again, “I love Christmas.” Sometimes, even now as an adult, it’s hard for me to wait until Christmas. There is so much excitement in the air. It’s almost impossible to wait to give those we love that one-of-a-kind gift. We can’t wait to see the joy in their eyes and on their face when they open the gift and see what you picked up for them. In fact, for some waiting is so difficult that they give the gift early because the anticipation is so great that they do not have the self-discipline to wait. It’s also challenging to wait for those gifts that you know others chose for you with love. Little Children awaken at the crack of dawn in anticipation of those treasures that they know are waiting for them under the tree.

Way back in Genesis, God promised to send a savior who would bridge the gap between Him and man that sin had created. God, however, didn’t send the savior right away. They had to wait for just the right time. All through the Old Testament, He reminds Israel that he hasn’t forgotten them and they will receive his gift but just not yet; so they had to wait. By the time God sent his Son into the world, many had stopped waiting for the messiah, and others dismissed him as an impossibility. So only a handful of shepherds and the wise men were there to witness the miracle of Christmas and they had no idea that he was the long-awaited gift of God. The day heaven comes to earth. Yet, there were two who were waiting Simeon and Anna. When they saw this little six to eight-pound bundle of life that Mary carried in her arms they knew and praised God for the gift that he had sent. They were waiting for the gift of God. I wonder if they awoke each morning with the thought, "Maybe today will be the day we've been waiting for", "Maybe today God will send his gift." They were rewarded for waiting because they saw what others missed.

This Christmas, let’s look forward with joy to the coming of the day when we can celebrate the reunion of God and man. Christmas is a time to celebrate the gift of God becoming man and living in our neighborhood.

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