Anticipation

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My kids were trying to pull me out of bed this morning.
(Why is it that on the weekends they are up hours before they are on school days?)

They were not having much success.
When your first conscious thoughts are an assault of all the work you need to do, it causes a delay in your feet hitting the floor.
I better understand how children feel when they're woken up to go to school - who wants to leave rest and ease for work?

I thought this morning of Christ - of the antithesis of anticipation he must have felt before his incarnation.

The God of the universe was going to come to a backwards, ignorant sin -filled world as a baby in order to die a cruel painful death on a cross.
I'd sure be pulling the covers back over my head if I knew that was what was ahead.

But there is the story of Christmas.

Christ's feet "hit the floor"of a barn and walked along dusty roads and up Calvary's hill.

There's a Christmas song sung by Go Fish that says it all:

It’s not just about the manger where the baby lay
It’s not all about the angels who sang for him that day
It’s not just about the shepherds or the bright and shinning star
It’s not all about the wise men who traveled from afar

It’s not just about the presents underneath the tree
It’s not all about the feeling that the season brings to me
It’s not just about coming home to be with those you love
It’s not all about the beauty of the snow I’m dreaming of

It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once so that we could be born again
It’s about the stone that was rolled away so that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross

The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it’s the ending that can save you
And that’s why we celebrate

It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once so that we could be born again
It’s about God’s love nailed to the tree
It’s about every drop of blood that flowed from him when it should have been me
It’s about the stone that was rolled away so that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross

So as I enjoy the beauty, family, and nostalgia of the season, I will also recognize that Christ woke up every morning with the realization that His steps were leading to his death. And because he kept getting out of bed and walked to the end of that road, He's given to me a gift of anticipation. Because of his birth, I am now able to join Him in heaven, and that is the greatest gift of Christmas.


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