Anticipation

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.     –   Romans 8:18 

With just over two months until Christmas, children are already in the early stages of anticipation for the gift that might be under the tree for them. Several years ago, a television host asked a number of celebrities about their most notable Christmas gift. Because of their overall wealth, one might have expected them to say the year they got a new Lexus, or the time they received some incredible jewelry. But answers ranged from the times they received a bicycle, a pair of roller skates, or a visit from a grandmother who lived overseas. 

Why is it that as you grow older, your sense of holiday expectations dulls and, along with it, the anticipated joy and pleasure you might experience? Pastor Alan Perkins writes, “I think one reason is that, as we grow up, we learn a hard truth about gifts. Which is that they break. They get old and beat-up. They fail to live up to their promise. … [They] no longer have the capacity to fill us with joy.” Anticipation fades. C.S. Lewis said, “Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world.” In fact, as the Apostle Paul says in today’s verse, what the world offers far from satisfies—it often brings pain and suffering.  

Do you remember your earliest days as a Christian, when you eagerly awaited the hours you would delve into your Bible studies, the passion with which you prayed? What about your anticipation of eternal life with the Lord—do you nurture a keen expectation for that day? The refrain of an old hymn says, “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus; Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ.” Be watching and waiting for eternity’s greatest gift to you… an eternity with the Lord who loves you!