The Advent Season

Good morning Homeschool Families!
We find ourselves in the midst of a precious time of year for us. The Advent Season. For years now I have gotten my kids and my grandkids advent calendars. They love them because every day brings a piece of chocolate and they can count down the days until Christmas. Also every year I would get an Advent candle. We would burn a section of the candle every day until the end of the candle brought you to Christmas day. I always thought these were just methods to count down the days and build the excitement until Christmas day.
But this year the Lord laid it on my heart to find out what the word 'advent' truly means. It is the 'waiting and expectant longing for something of great importance'. In this case, that 'something of great importance' is the celebration of the day all souls long for, but most don't recognize...the birth of our Savior. This event had been awaited for years. Some are still waiting.
So what should the Christmas Advent season hold for us? Well for me, if I am honest, I must say that Advent seasons past have been spent awaiting Christmas day for the wrong reasons. The 'waiting period' coming up to the big day was spent in perpetual motion....buying gifts, decorating, making things perfect for my family. Of course, we always included the nativity story and the Christmas Eve service etc but my anticipation was shifted slightly off what my goal should have been.
As I looked into Advent a bit more I discovered that it is spread over the 4 Sundays before Christmas Day. Each Sunday stands for a gift that Jesus brought to us in His birth. The first Sunday was about hope. The hope that Jesus brought us of eternal life in the presence of the Most High God and that eternity began for us at salvation. Hope of a better life. Hope for those we love who are unsaved. Hope that we can live in and cling to every day. The second Sunday we celebrate peace, you know, 'peace on earth, good will towards men'. But that isn't all scripture says about peace. 2 Tim 2:22 says we are to, "...pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." This verse also includes what we celebrate on the 3rd Sunday... Love. For God so loved the world that he sent us Jesus, born as a human baby to be a sacrifice for each of us. And Jesus tells us to love each other as he loves us...sacrificially. How do we pursue these things. To pursue is to follow with the serious intent and passion for actually capturing what you are after. Daily we are to pursue these things and when we do we will find what the final sunday celebrates... Joy. "I bring you good news that will cause you great joy" Luke 2:10 That good news is Jesus!!! "That your joy may be full!" 2 Cor 8:2
And then the Lord brought it all together for me. On December 2, my youngest daughter delivered my 8th grandchild. The anticipation while waiting for that day to arrive was so special. Wondering what he would look like, wanting to hold him and welcome him into the family. And when it got down to the big day the anticipation became electric. We knew that his arrival was imminent, that soon he would be here. We couldn't wait. Then he came! The excitement didn't end there. Now we are excited about watching him grow, watching the way he changes our family, loving him through a lifetime. That is the kind of anticipation we should have as we celebrate Christmas, but we still have something to anticipate even now, as Jesus Followers. We are awaiting his arrival again! We wonder what He will be like, what heaven will be like, what our bodies will be like...there are so many questions. We want to walk with Him, hold His nail-scarred hand, soak up his presence and worship Him. And as His arrival approaches our anticipation will become more and more electric! This kind of anticipation will change your Christmas and as we live it day by day waiting for him to come again it will change our life. We will live life with the excitement and expectant longing that comes from knowing that the 'big day' is not far off.