We are officially in the season of Advent, the long wait, the big countdown to Christmas Day. And while it may feel long, very long to us- especially the littler of us for whom a day feels like 10 whole years. I think that first wait, that first countdown, first Advent from creation to the birth of a tiny baby in a stable was longer… for God.
We were merrily, blissfully unaware like the little boy’s parents, not knowing or expecting such a gift to be given in such a way. But God knew the gift, God knew the plan and understood how perfect this gift would be for God’s beloved creation. How very much we needed this gift. That wait, until the right time, until all the right people were in all the right places, until the stars (literally) aligned must have been endless.
I don’t know about you, but I can imagine God becoming as impatient as the little boy in the advert. Far from this little boy being as grumpy and spoilt as he might initially seem, there is a desperation in his behaviour. He is desperate to give the perfect gift, literally cannot wait.
The Old Testament is littered with pointers to the coming gift. God gave clue after clue as to what this gift would be, how it would be given, where it all would happen. The promised birth of the messiah was God’s worst kept secret.
Each Advent as we watch and wait for Christmas, there is a challenge for us to remember the God who counted down the long wait for the gift that God couldn’t wait to give…
Lexisms 