Waiting!

A Devotion

By Joe Guagliardo

James 5:7-8; Matthew 28:19-20

“Waiting”

December 17, 2023

Seven days and counting. That’s right, only seven days until Christmas day. Shopping online and in brick-and-mortar stores is at its peak right now. People are rushing around trying to get the perfect gift for everyone on their list.

Children hope to get the perfect gift from Santa, and parents are just plain exhausted from trying to find items their kids want.

It seems every year that Jesus’ connection to Christmas gets lost, except for possibly and hour spent at a church service on Christmas Eve or Day.

But we really need to remember something at this time of year. As the writer wrote, and you’ve heard many times, “There is no Christmas without Christ.” Or perhaps you’ve heard this one, too, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

*********************The Point*****************

Advent is a time of waiting. We are waiting for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Savior of the world who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Then He rose from the dead three days later.

Jesus conquered death. He rose from the dead. In doing so, He guaranteed us that someday we, too, would rise from our inevitable bodily death.

As we celebrate Christ’s coming this Christmas, we are waiting for something else, too.

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You, too, be patient and stand firm because the Lord’s coming is near.”

We are awaiting Christ’s return. We wait for the day Jesus returns to take us home to His heavenly home. The difficult thing to do is to wait patiently for Christ’s return.

“But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Only God knows when Christ will return, just like when God told Noah to build that Ark because He would flood the world. He did not tell Noah exactly when the flood would occur. The same goes for Jesus. He will return when God the Father says, “It’s time.”

Be ready. Jesus will return. We don’t know the hour or minute, but rest assured, He will return.

Be ready by doing the Lord’s word that Jesus gave us to do.

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”