To Be...Anticipating December

Our daughter's home decked out for the holidays.

December 1-2

How did Christmas morning begin in your home?  Did you have to wait for the entire family to gather before you could head down to the tree?  We had the ole "gather on the steps for a photo" tradition with our children and then my husband would come and let us know if Santa had come.  As a child, the rule at my home was no one could go to the living room until everyone was awake.  Being the MUCH younger sibling, who still believed in Santa, the anticipation mounted during the long wait for my high school and college siblings to lumber out of bed.  An iPad would have helped the minutes tick away.

The computer dictionary definition of anticipate is:
                               "regard as probable, expect, predict or look forward to."

Can you imagine Mary and Joseph's anticipation of what giving birth to God's Son was going to be like?
Every moment of motherhood for Mary had to be filled with anticipation of what would be coming next for Jesus' life and then his horrible crucifixion.

Luke 2:38 tells the fulfilled story of Simeon and Anna's anticipation of the coming Messiah.

"While Simeon was prophesying over Mary and Joseph and the baby, Anna walked up to them and burst forth with a great chorus of praise to God for the child. And from that day forward she told everyone in Jerusalem who was waiting for their redemption that the anticipated Messiah had come!

Luke 12:36 addresses the anticipation we are to have concerning Christ's return.

"Be like the servants who anticipate their master's return from a wedding celebration.  They are ready to unlock and open the door for him at a moment's notice."  

Hebrews 10:25 instructs how we are to live with our fellow believers as we wait for Jesus to come back.

"This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing, because we need each other!  In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning."

Here's a December challenge.  Each day complete this sentence...
It is a gift from God....
Example
It is a gift from God that we have food on the table today.

It is a gift from God to be anticipating Christ's return.