Forgot Christmas?

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Hebrews 6:19a
Is that a good description of your soul today? Anchored...firm and secure?

Do you remember seeing presents under the tree weeks before December 25?  The anticipation, curiosity and excitement could be unbearable to a child. But if your name was on a present then it was secure and firm that you were receiving something on that special day. It was undeniable even though you had to wait for it, it was secure. There is a real parallel to our our lives today.

By the time of the first advent, the Messiah had been promised to come and yet the people had grown weary, a Saviour had been prophesied to come yet the nation grew tired and lost hope. It was like the nation of Israel was like a child who forgot that Christmas was coming...actually...thats exactly what they became like.
Something that comes up over and over again throughout the Bible (one thing that most of us are not good at or like)...is that God's promises 'by their nature demand patient endurance to receive' (D.L. Allen). Think of Abraham and Sarah awaiting a child into the twilight of their life...based on a promise; or Moses leading the people in the wilderness for 40 years...based on a promise...not to mention the prophets or what about Simeon in the Gospel of Luke who waited late into his life to see the Christ...based off a promise.

God remembers his promises, He is faithful and will fulfill this in the right time. Perhaps its okay this Christmas to watch children (even adults?) get excited for Christmas, the anticipation of the promise...is it today? How many more sleeps? I can't wait! God's promises are secure, they are firm and our soul is anchored in them. Promises to provide, to care, to nurture and guide. But also it is a promise to save and to cleanse and a promise that Horatio Stafford captures well:

And Lord haste the day 

when the faith shall be sight, 

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; 

The trump shall resound, 

and the Lord shall descend, 

Even so, it is well with my soul.

Gal 3:29: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Advent

"The word advent means coming. In this season of the year, we focus on the meaning of the coming of the Son of God into the world. And the spirit of our celebration should be the spirit in which he came. And the spirit of that coming is summed up in Luke 19:10 "The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."" 
That is how John Piper begins his advent devotional The Dawning of Indestructible Joy (you can download the pdf for free!: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-dawning-of-indestructible-joy).

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That means he knew that there were some...many...most...okay all of us...that were lost and needed saving. That he would come and rescue fallen humanity is the good news, the gospel! We first get to really sink our teeth into this story in the nativity as Mary and Joseph, the super excited shepherds peak in on the manger scene. But this all began long before that, long planned, long arranged and long decided on.
God's plan to rescue you was not a response to a foxhole prayer or a knee jerk reaction to something you did. He planned and knew you long before you were born (Ephesians 1:13).

Crazy.

So what is the condition of your soul at the start of this advent? Can God begin a new work, a renewing work in you? Can He find you? Can He locate the key to softening your heart and filling you to the full of His presence this advent? Even in this midst of Christmas plays, family gatherings, racked up credit cards, and ramped up expectations???

Of course He can.

The first advent He took a young virgin and filled her lips with praise that have lasted centuries; He spoke to a group of shepherds keeping watch in the background of society and filled them with wonder and belief; He spoke to a group of wisemen from far away and led them to the Christ Child where they would be filled with joy because they met Joy incarnate.
Filled with praise, filled with wonder, filled with joy.

I want that.

Over the next several weeks as we prepare for Christmas I will attempt once again to write frequently as a compliment to any readings you may be doing already for this special season.

But know this as you begin this new week, advent meant that he was coming...coming to seek you out and to save you.