Waiting For Christmas
I
can still remember what it was like as a child waiting for Christmas to arrive.
The anticipation was, at times, almost unbearable. It would begin with the Sears catalogue
arriving at our home. My siblings and I would go through the toy section and
begin to circle those items that we were hoping we would find under the
Christmas tree. The Christmas
decorations would begin to come out and be put around the house. The tree would
go up. Soon the whole house began to feel like Christmas—which only increased
the sense of anticipation I felt inside.
Christmas
Eve was always a tough one. I remember going to bed and hearing my parents
downstairs rustling wrapping paper, going up and down the basement steps, and
doing all the things parents do to set things up for Christmas morning. When
Christmas morning came, we (that is, my siblings and I) always woke up much too
early, often having to wait a bit before going downstairs to the tree. Finally permission was given and we would gather
around the tree and open up the gifts that had been set there the night before.
At that moment, the waiting was over. Christmas had arrived!
If
you think about it, the first Christmas was filled with anticipation. So many people many were waiting for its
arrival—that is, waiting for the birth of the Savior. For nine months Mary and Joseph awaited the
birth of the miracle child that Mary was carrying in her womb. From the
announcement of the angel through the long trek to Bethlehem, this young couple
was waiting for the child’s birth.
But,
not only were Mary and Joseph waiting for Christmas, a whole nation of people were
waiting. Through years of suffering,
exile, domination by foreign rulers, and all kinds of injustice, God’s people
had been crying out for a Messiah to come. They had been holding onto the
promises spoken through the prophets. They were waiting for the day when a
Savior would be born. They were waiting
for Christmas.
Then
it came. He arrived. The Savior was
born. So, the angels declared to the
shepherds who apparently had been waiting, “Today
in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke
2:11 – NIV) Eight days later, when Simeon, the old man in the temple, saw the
baby Jesus, he cried out, “…my eyes have
seen your salvation....” (Luke 2:30 – NIV)
In other words, his waiting was over!
Christmas had arrived for him and for the whole world!
Christmas
has arrived! Our Savior has been born!
He is Christ the Lord! This
Christmas Season let’s celebrate that fact that the waiting is over.
Have
a great day and a blessed Christmas!
Pastor
Tim Harris
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