I’ve come to realize that the best part of Christmas as a cultural holiday is the anticipation. I look forward to signing along with the band on Christmas Eve and taking a few days out of our routine to spend with my wife and kids, among other things. It’s the anticipation of this time that makes it truly meaningful and exciting to me.
As I anticipate Christmas each year, the thought has occurred to me that God’s people were anticipating the first Christmas for a much, much longer period of time; and with tremendous consequences hanging in the balance. And yet when it came, very few people celebrated it.
Today, and everyday I have the opportunity to be filled with anticipation. Psalm 23:6 says Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. How incredible is the opportunity to live this day and everyday under the covering of God’s goodness and mercy?! When I look back I can see the amazing adventures God’s goodness has taken me on, and the many ways He has cared for me over a lifetime. I marvel when I think that when that baby boy was born one anonymous night in Bethlehem, He came into the world with all the vulnerability of an infant. He took His first breath of open air as a baby, and His purpose in life was to die for me; to be my Savior.
The incredible nature of the Christmas story; the wonder the shepherds must have experienced, the beauty of two new parents experiencing the birth of a child, the simultaneous simplicity and complexity… it all fills my soul with anticipation for the days to come. Where will God’s goodness and mercy take us this year? What incredible things will He do?!
One thing I do know, is that when it’s all over, I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. What a day that will be! Speaking of anticipation…that'll be one breathtaking morning.
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