Waiting, Anticipation, and Hope | Advent Day 9
Daily Scripture Reading: Isaiah 64:1-4
Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus,” meaning “coming.” At the start of Advent, we turn our hearts toward the practices of waiting and anticipation for the coming of Christ. Advent is a period of preparation, expectation, and hope for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, and for the preparation of the Second Coming of Christ.
Advent emphasizes “hope.” The hope we find in Isaiah’s text is not the warm, festive, and cheery hope we might expect leading up to Christmas. Rather, we remember that what we are waiting for is the expectation of the LORD’s coming to deliver His own, as it was with Israel in exile, and as it is today on the eve of the Second Coming.
During Advent, we prepare our homes, our churches, and our hearts for Christmas and celebrating the birth of our Savior. Advent is a time of waiting.
I’m not one to get the Christmas tree up on December 1st, but as time goes by, I find I am doing it earlier and earlier. We put up two trees: an artificial one and a real one. The real one because I still love the smell of the pine tree, and it reminds me that Jesus died on a tree for me.
We have two friends who almost race to get their trees up the earliest. They’re filled with Advent expectation, anticipation, excitement, and determined hope. Our hope begins with a baby in a manger but finds its completion in a King who will judge the whole earth, putting every broken thing back together and setting all things right: you, me, the world.
Isaiah repeats his plea throughout the scripture, “Come, oh that you would come, come down, you came down, you come.” O Come, O Come, Immanuel. Of course, God did come down, in Christ, the incarnation of God himself. God has come down.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, You are holy, holy, holy, the LORD God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come. Let our deepest hope be in You, God, in Your fullest presence. Today, let us be expectant. Open our eyes, our hearts, our souls, all that we are, to all that He is. Let us expect God’s greatness to show up and follow that greatness wherever it leads. In His precious name, Amen.