When I was a child, I loved to order free items offered on cereal boxes. Per instructions, three box tops enclosed with my request would soon make the owner of my own spy decoder ring! Usually the item was a trinket of very little value–some plastic toy that would hold my attention for only a moment and soon be forgotten. In retrospect, the process was never really about the toy. It was about the process and the anticipation since the average time for delivery was six weeks. Seems like forever doesn’t it? But I loved the idea of waiting for its arrival, checking the mail every day.
We’ve come a long way since that “snail mail” delivery delay. We find ourselves at the Christmas season with companies falling over themselves to see who can get your order to you in the swiftest time frame. Even “two day” delivery has become “next day” or “same day!” Boxes pile up outside our doors as the UPS truck pulls away often in the dark of night to make sure the promised delivery date of Black Friday and Cyber Monday orders is honored. We expect it now. There is no anticipation. The process becomes a bit mechanical with no feeling, no excitement for what each box holds for the recipient or as the giver. Another item is simply checked off the list and needs to be wrapped.
By the time Christmas Day arrives, we are often so tired and overloaded from a month full of festivities, shopping and decorating that we forget to celebrate the season’s most special delivery–our Savior, Jesus, whose birth is “the reason for the season”. And what of anticipation? Yes, we celebrate a past event in anticipation of a future event–the return of our Lord and Savior–when He returns to take His bride the church home.
Because I am a fan of anticipation, Christmas Day used to end with a bit of a let down. The festive decorations that brightened our home would soon be returned to the attic. The beautifully wrapped boxes holding the element of surprise were empty. Only the dreary days of a cold January filled the calendar.
However, I now look at Christmas Day and every day through different eyes. Every day is a day filled with anticipation of what God has in store. There are daily gifts in the form of His blessings– gifts that don’t require an internet search, a credit card, or a box at the doorstep. Grace, forgiveness, salvation, peace, joy, eternity in Heaven have been purchased for you by God the Father through His son, Jesus. God gave us the greatest gift of all.
May your Christmas season not rob you of the joy and anticipation of its true meaning which extends beyond a baby in a manger. From the manger, look to the cross where Jesus died so that we might have forgiveness of our sins. From the cross, peer into the tomb that no longer holds a resurrected Jesus. From the tomb, look up with anticipation because His redemption, His return for His children is drawing near. It is my prayer that Jesus is your most desired, most coveted, most anticipated “special delivery” gift this season. To God Be the Glory!
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)