My least favorite thing to do is wait. All too often, waiting becomes a daily activity. We wait for our breakfast burrito to heat up in the microwave. We wait to get done with work. We wait for dinner. We wait for something we ordered from Amazon to come in the mail. Wait, wait, wait!
But is waiting really that bad of a thing? Children that are bored and not constantly entertained have a much greater imagination. Waiting for something makes you appreciate it that much more. Patience is a virtue. Certainly waiting, of all things, can be good for us and even make us a better person.
This time of year we seem to have even more waiting. Things like going to the grocery store and waiting in line to buy holiday meal supplies or going to the mall to buy presents can be a fate (seemingly) worse than death. Crowded stores and rabid holiday shoppers can make us almost wish that there was no Christmas at all! Or at least, a Christmas that we had to wait so long and work so hard to provide. Truly, these sorts of things can diminish the real reason for the season and
obscure the focus on Christ.
How about we don’t focus on Christmas this December? We have to plan for it, to be sure. Yet, we have the season of Advent beforehand. Advent is a four week season of waiting, anticipation, and repentance. We reflect upon the Old Testament saints who so earnestly desired the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah writes in Chapter 40,
“Comfort, Comfort my people.” He proclaims that God’s comfort will come to earth, to Jerusalem. Likewise, the people ought to repent of their sins. He says “A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Throughout all of the Old Testament, the focus upon Christ is one that will fulfill the desires of God’s people. While we look at Jesus and what His birth at Christmas means for us, we also look forward to His second Advent. We meditate on the words of Isaiah as we daily repent of our sinful nature and rely on Christ for life. Our faith in Him accomplishes this repentance. The eschatological (end-times) themes that come in Advent point us towards His coming again. Like the saints of old, we wait in eager anticipation for Him to return in glory, and finally perfect and create anew. Let’s not shy away from the truth of Christ’s coming again. His return in all glory will be greater than even His first coming. All people will see face-to-face His glory. We no longer will have to wait, nor want for anything. Rather, all things will be given to us and we will live eternally with Him.
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