Advent Anticipations

In this Advent season, it’s so easy to get wrapped up (quite literally!) in the hustle of the holidays: gift shopping, decorating, baking, all the TV specials – you name it! I’m a fan of finding the best gingerbread lattes, which is quite harder than it sounds.

We spend 4 weeks anticipating Christmas Day and doing all the themed traditions, many of which have nothing to do with Christ. The day after, we wake up and that joyful spark has faded. There are no more surprises or as much wonder in what is to come. The gifts have been opened, the cookies have been consumed, the party has ended. We pack up the decorations with a certain sadness, knowing that we must soon return to our mundane schedules.

Why is this? What makes Christmas, or the Advent season, so enticing, but so fleeting that we lose that hope and joy the very next day?

Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of our “why.” We know that Christmas is to celebrate Jesus’s birth, yet our affections don’t always reflect the true reason of the season. So let’s look at what that is.

“Advent” signifies “arrival” or “coming.” It’s to instill hope, joy, peace, and love in knowing and remembering that our Savior took on flesh and came to Earth to redeem us. Advent is a season of hope. We have full assurance that God came through on His Word before, and we know He will do so again. 

In this season of anticipation, we effortlessly place our expectations on the wrong things and people. We intend to remember and prepare for Christ’s coming. Yet we find ourselves obsessing over the right gifts for our family, baking enough cookies for a fictional character to consume at midnight, and attending every gathering. As we prepare our homes and plan the perfect gifts, let’s not forget to prepare our hearts for the One who it’s all about.

Our world celebrates commercialism, rejecting the One who we need the most. Friend, if this holiday season feels empty or hopeless, consider where you have been placing your priorities. Where in your life has Christmas been about Christ? Where has it become about other things? Our traditions are great and fun, but if they take us away from Jesus, they aren’t sustainable. Scripture says to do all things unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23). Reclaim your time as a celebration for Jesus and all that God has done. He is the greatest Light, the greatest Joy, and the greatest Hope we could ever want or need. Bake those treats for Jesus. Decorate that tree and illuminate it to remind you of Christ’s coming. Encourage your family instead of treating that dinner like an obligation. Give to others as a means to serve them, just as Jesus served you. It’s not as much what we do, but why we do it.

As we prepare our homes for loved ones to visit, let’s prepare our hearts for Jesus to abide.

As we hope for the best presents, let’s hope for and rejoice in the greatest gift God could ever give us.

As we leave gifts under the tree, let’s lay down our crowns at the One who hung on a tree.

God sent His Son to be with us. Let that sink in. God sent His perfect Son Jesus – whose name Immanuel means “God with us” – so we would never lack a thing. So we could have perfect peace. So we could have joy in the midst of grief. So we could have freedom from sin. So we could have eternal life. Where the Israelites anticipated Christ’s arrival to Earth over 2,000 years ago, we recognize that He arrived. God’s Word remained true. And when Jesus was crucified, He rose from the dead! Again, God’s word remained true. So now, we anticipate the celebration of Jesus’s birth. We desire to glorify Him and honor Him as we recognize His humility, mercy, love, and sacrifice for us. He has proven Himself true over and over again. 

Instead of sadness as we pack up our decorations, we are content. We are joyful. WWe might be even more expectant and excited. Jesus came once before…and He is coming back again soon.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 

‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, 

and they shall call his name Immanuel’ 

(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”

Matthew 1:18-25 (ESV)

Reflect

1. What does the Advent season look like for you?
2. What are you anticipating this Christmas season? Are you focused more on earthly things or Christ’s birth?