December 20, 2022

As we approach Christmas, I wanted to share an excerpt of an Advent devotional I read:

“We already know the end of the story—the climactic moment of Advent is the overwhelming beauty of Incarnation. Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, entered as a babe—and we encounter God putting on flesh to dwell with humanity.

Mary did not have the advantage of “the rest of the story,” yet she waited for the fulfillment of the promise made by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38) and the revelation of the child. During her final days of pregnancy, we can imagine her unsettledness as she began to mentally and physically anticipate childbirth. Young and away from her home and family in Nazareth, Mary would have longed as any pregnant woman in her ninth month to end the wait and move through the labor in anticipation of the promised child, the Son of the Most High.

So too, we live in days of anticipation. We look forward to the return of Jesus and, like Mary, feeling the tension, pray to be relieved of the burden and realize the glory and wonder of Christ. We work towards His return, much as an expectant woman goes about her tasks, not knowing a definitive day for the arrival but pregnant with anticipation. The apostle Paul urged believers in Philippians 4:6-7 to submit all to prayer without anxiety. But pause with me to look at the preceding verse: “The Lord is at hand” (Philippians 4:5). Ah, the glory! Just as Mary knew the promised Christ child was at hand, we too know that the Lord is at hand.”

As we celebrate Christmas this year, let us always look forward to the imminent return of Christ our King.

Merry Christmas!