Advent is a season of expectation. A time for us to anticipate the birth of Jesus.
The prophets long waited in expectation for the coming of Messiah. Theirs was a deep longing as they desperately cried out to God, "How long, Lord?" Messiah had been promised and so they waited...and waited...and waited some more. They waited in the midst of turmoil, unrest and tragedy.
As Christians living in the 21st Century, we can understand their longing. We too are waiting. And we also wait in the midst of turmoil (our economy is yet to recover), unrest (Egypt; Israel; Syria) and tragedy (Hurricane Sandy). This time, we wait not for Messiah, for he has already come; instead we wait for Christ the King to return in all his glory to redeem the entire world in a re-creation of a new heaven and a new earth. This has been promised to us by Jesus himself. And so we wait in expectation and we ask, "How long, Lord?"
This is what we celebrate during Advent. It is an important season of the church and for our lives. Let's not miss this time of expectation and anticipation. Let's not rush to Christmas, but give ourselves the opportunity to say, "Come Lord Jesus, come."
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