I Hate To Wait

"But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…"

Galatians 4:4



“We can’t sleep” was the common response each night throughout the month of December. Growing up, I could hardly wait for Christmas morning and the joy of unwrapping the gifts under our tree. For weeks before the big day the anticipation would build. My parents would have my brother and sisters and I make a list of things we wanted for Christmas in the order of preference and then submit it not really knowing for sure what gift we would receive. It's here we learned to have hope. All the waiting only heightened the excitement of the day and though for a young child the waiting felt as if it was going to kill us. My siblings and I spent most of our days before Christmas looking for all the places my parents, (I mean Santa) could have hidden our gifts. It’s here we learned how to seek and find.

I can't even begin to recall the countless sleepless Christmas Eve's where every sound in the house made me think that Santa (Yes, my parents let us believe there was a Santa) had visited our house so we would quietly get up in the middle of the night and sneak down the hall to look under the tree, most of the time to be disappointed that the sounds we thought we heard of a sleigh on our roof were most likely only the sounds the house makes on its own with pipes and stuff creaking in the walls. Oh, the days of anticipation. Christmas by design was the Father's way to teach the entire world about anticipation. After all, it had been four hundred years of silence since the book of Malachi in the Old Testament. Four hundred years is a long time to wait.

As I consider the birth of our Savior and that first Christmas I can't imagine the anticipation that was felt by Mary and Joseph, Zacharias and Elizabeth all knowing that Mary was about to give birth to the Christ Child, the Savior of the world. Talk about anticipation. What I love about the gift of Jesus birth is that it is not a story conjured up after the fact like man made religion. No, loved one, Christianity is just the opposite as the birth of Jesus was not just predicted or prophecies made about it. The very day of Jesus birth was predetermined by the Father and told thousands of years before Jesus was ever born. In all fairness, the story of Jesus birth goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 making the announcement of our Saviors birth the most anticipated event in human history, the day when God would become a man and dwell among us and save us from our sins. At least those who would receive His priceless gift that is.

It was never any secret that a Savior would be born to save us from our sins. That’s what Christmas is all about and my prayer for me and for you this Christmas is that the anticipation of the revelation of Jesus would capture our hearts afresh with the same zeal that the thought of presents under a tree captures the entire being of a child's heart and mind. Jesus was born for me and for you, loved one, God’s gift to us and guess what, He is coming back again! Talk about living with anticipation. Don't miss the chance to stop from the busyness of the Christmas holiday this year to drop to your knees and join the host of heaven and enjoying the gift that only Jesus can provide, peace on earth and goodwill towards men. It's the gift He is bringing with Him when He comes again! Let the spirit of Christmas captivate your heart this year! Remember, wise men (and women) still seek Jesus!


"So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

Matthew 1:22-23

I LOVE YOU!