Thanksgiving is over, the turkey is now just a sad looking bunch of bones wrapped in tinfoil on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. The kids have all gone home… and this morning I find myself waiting on Christmas. Waiting is not something I am very good at (just ask my wife), yet it is something that is woven into the very fabric of our faith. Abraham waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise to make of him a great nation; Sarah waited on Isaac; Noah waited first for the rains to come, and then for the rain to stop; Moses waited forty years on the back side of the desert; Jesus himself waited thirty years to begin his earthly ministry; and there are many more examples we could quote. Waiting it seems is a part of God’s perfect plan.It is important that in our fast paced world of jet aircraft, microwave meals, cell phones, the Internet, and hurrying from one meeting to the next, we remind ourselves once again that God is never rushed, He is never in a hurry, and He is never late. All things will be accomplished according to his perfect will and in his perfect time. In these four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year let me encourage you to slow down, take some time out from your busy schedule each day and from all the shopping and preparing to go “over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s house”, and reflect on what Christmas is really all about… and while we may be waiting on Christmas, we are no longer waiting on the Messiah. Christ has come, and the long wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise to save his people from their sins is now over… Salvation has come! That my friends, is why we may debate about the proper way to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus… there is no debate about the significance of this event in redemptive history.
Grace Always,
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