Watching

Good Morning!! We haven’t changed much since the times of the prophets who lived in the Old Testament. Like us, their lives were hard, defined by illness, pain and brokenness. With uncertain futures, they were desperate for escape. A small and insignificant nation,...the Hebrews longed for a reason to celebrate, to abandon themselves to music and food and dancing, to forget the hopeless past, and anticipate a fruitful future. What about you?...Do you ever feel like these people of long ago,...desperate, uncertain, lonely, fearful, conflicted, wishing for a party, or an event that would wipe out all your cares, and celebrate the good times,...a celebration that would never end? Maybe you catch yourself looking to people in high places, hoping for a significant someone to come along and fix it all,...someone with all the answers and solutions?

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.—Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
Prophets, priests, and patriarchs WATCHED for signs. They believed a king would liberate them from oppressive rulers. They watched for a great commander to march into the land,...returning what was rightfully theirs. But after watching for a conquering king to gallop onto the scene with his armies, a Son was given,...but he wasn’t a royal ruler. He wasn’t a hero who managed mightily from a powerful throne set in a high palace. Those who sought a  marching monarch eventually learned, that the Prince of Peace snuggled quietly on a bale of hay in a manger. And now we Watch,...for Him to come again.

Jesus, is the promised Son who has come to conquer our desperation.

He is the reason we celebrate.

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Help us to realize that burying ourselves in holiday busyness, will only multiply our desperate state,...increase our loneliness, fuel our fear, and feed our uncertainty. Lord, we want to come before You like the prophets and priests who watched for Your arrival, like the wise men and shepherds who laid down their worldly possessions. We bow before You, in celebration of Your nativity and in Your Name we pray, Amen.

"Asking for God's blessing in our lives, should mean more of Him,...not just more stuff."