WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS

Romans 8:19 -TPT – “The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters!”

I have fond memories of my childhood about waiting for Christmas. “Mom, hey mom, how much longer until Christmas?” She would patiently tell me how many more days just to repeat the same drama again tomorrow. One of the frustrating things I remember about this is that the daily newspaper had a spot in it reminding everyone how many shopping days until Christmas. That was really frustrating because it was a different number from how many real days there were left on the calendar, stores were closed on Sunday so the shopping days were different from real days. In today’s world everyday is a shopping day and with the internet, Black Friday lasts all month.

In today’s verse Paul is talking about a different kind of waiting. He is describing waiting for the coming of Christ and the revealing of the true sons and daughters of God. John describes that day in his first letter.

1 John 2:3 – Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

Here is how Barclay describes the waiting.

“In verse 19, he uses a wonderful word for eager expectation. It is apokaradokia, and it describes the stance of someone who scans the horizon with head thrust forward, eagerly searching the distance for the first signs of the dawn breaking – the daybreak of glory. To Paul, life was not a weary, defeated waiting; it was a throbbing, vivid expectation. Christians are involved in the human situation. Within, they must battle with their own evil human nature; without, they must live in a world of death and decay. Nonetheless, Christians do not live only in the world; they also live in Christ. They do not see only the world; they look beyond it to God. They do not see only the consequences of human sin; they see the power of God’s mercy and love. Therefore, the keynote of the Christian life is always hope and never despair. Christians wait not for death but for life.”

The thing about waiting for Christmas and the download of gifts, it is over so fast and it never seems to be what we thought when we finally get there. That’s not the way it is with this other waiting, waiting on the appearing of Jesus. I promise you there will be no disappointments when He appears. Mom, hey mom, how much longer until He comes?