The advent season is a beautiful time to reflect on God's adoptive love for a broken world. Join me in preparing for Christmas by meditating daily on the coming of Christ and praying for the fatherless.
Anticipation
Romans 13:11-14
"And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh"
Anticipation. If I could use one word to describe "Christmas" for children, anticipation would be the word. On December 26th each year, my children start counting down the days until the next Christmas. As soon as the Halloween decorations roll out, Christmas is all that consumes my children's minds and conversations. Why? Because it is the most magical time of their year: family movie nights, getting to drink hot chocolate out of snowmen mugs, decorating the house, Christmas music, caroling, special foods, and of course...presents! The anticipation of Christmas morning is just as special for my children as the Christmas day itself.
That is the picture I have in my mind when I read this passage from Romans. Scripture often paints a picture of creation sitting at the edge of its seat, paused,waiting in anticipation. As you begin to read through the Christmas story in Mark or Luke, each verse builds in anticipation to the birth of Jesus Christ. If you pay enough attention, you can almost see the gospel writers holding their breath as they build to the climatic event of Mary giving birth to Christ and laying him in a manger.
And with the birth of Christ, the hour comes for us to wake from our slumber. Those who slumber have no anticipation of the coming salvation. The miracle of Christmas means that God has come to dwell with us. Our salvation is here. The light of dawn is now breaking through darkest of night. It is time to wake up!
What I love about this passage in Romans is that even though our salvation is secured in our faith in Jesus Christ, Paul writes of our eternal reality. He wants the Christian reader to remember what they are being saved to: an eternal, perfect fellowship with the Lord God. In the birth of Christ, God joined an earthly family so that we could be brought into his eternal family.
The first Christmas morning was meant to awaken those who sleep to the anticipation of our salvation. A salvation that grows nearer each day. We are called to live our life in a way that reflects that anticipation. We are not to go about our business like the rest of the world, as though our salvation is far off. We are to be waiting, ready, busy doing the Lord's work, holding our breath with the rest of creation as we eagerly wait for this salvation.
Prayers for the Orphan:
Take some time today to repent for the ways you gratify the desires of your flesh. Ask the Lord to search your heart and show you the ways in which you live with no anticipation of your salvation in Christ. Ask the Lord to also convict the hearts of those in your church family and to continue to call your community to clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that this would influence how you and your community care for the orphan. Pray that the Lord would give you an urgency to act for those who are stuck in darkness and that you would live in a way that represents the light of our salvation breaking into the world's darkness. Pray for the Lord to call believers world-wide to take action in caring for the fatherless.
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