Thinking back…way back to when I was a little boy, I can remember how the coming of the Christmas season filled me with the joy of anticipation. I didn’t really get too excited about the rubber baby lying on straw in the nativity play at church, or the kids I knew too well dressed up as angels. Caroling was kind of fun, especially the brownies and hot cider we enjoyed afterwards. But things really got exciting when we brought home a tree and set it up in the living room. That’s where presents would mysteriously begin to appear as Christmas Day grew near. By Christmas Eve the anticipation was almost unbearable.

As an adult, the anticipation at Christmas became focused mainly on watching my family open the presents I’d placed under the tree. But all year long I would find something to look forward to. Vacation, holidays, romantic times with my wife, birthdays, special times with friends, etc. But I’ve noticed that the older I get, few are the things I look forward to with the degree of eagerness I felt in days gone by. Of course there are still many things that spark a pleasant expectation within me, like the next meal, for instance. But one has dwarfed all others in significance. It’s pretty much whittled down to the fond anticipation of being with those I love and making new friends with whom love has the opportunity to grow.

All through the Old Testament we read how the prophets and kings anticipated the coming of the One who would bring life to the dead, light to darkness, peace to unrest, freedom to the oppressed, righteousness to the unrighteous, wisdom to the unlearned, strength to the weak, fatherhood to the fatherless and fruitfulness to the barren. He would make kings of peasants, priests of prisoners, stewards of grace of the spiritually poor. And on and on.

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

And so it is. We live in all that has been anticipated for many generations. What more could one ask for? Yet the best is still to come! In reading Romans 8 today I realized that I’ve largely neglected to fully anticipate the very “hope in which we were saved.” Sometimes I give more thought to the “groaning of the whole creation” than to the glory yet to be revealed in us. I used to know that chapter by memory, but apparently not as well by heart. You might want to check out again. It’s a great read and just could be a catalyst to re-kindle or stoke up the fires of anticipation.

David Fredrickson