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Anticipating a King

Through about a week and a half of being engaged God has already brought me into a season of anticipation like I've never experienced before ...

And, it's got me thinking about the whole concept of anticipation.

The Pastor of the church I go to here in Durham, JD Greer, has been doing a sermon series on Israel's search for a king. This series has impacted me profoundly. It is about Israel desiring a king other than God, and God eventually giving them their wish. Yet, each and every king that they had failed them in some way. None were able to live up to the expectations that they had. In the end, none were able to keep them free from captivity. They were waiting, anticipating the coming of the king who would.

This series is leading up to Christmas; the time when they were finally given the king that they'd always been waiting for (JESUS!). The king that would save them from all their enemies, but more importantly would save them from themselves, and their own sin.

Is my heart full of this kind of anticipation this Christmas season? Is yours? Are we truly taking time to prepare our hearts for the coming of a King? Or, are we focusing more energy on the coming of: the end of finals, rest, travel, time with family, gifts, concerts, cookies, _______(fill in the blank)? As for me, I'm like Israel. I make many things kings in my life rather than waiting for the true King. This Christmas I am praying that God will fill my heart with joy and knowledge of why HE is the only sufficient King.

I'll leave you with a passage from one of my favorite books that talks about being "shipwrecked at the manger", a beautiful illustration of anticipation and joy:

"The shipwrecked at the manger are captivated by joy and wonder. They have found the treasure in the field of Bethlehem. The Pearl of Great Price is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Everything else is cheap, fake, painted fragments of glass...God entered our world not with the crushing impact of unbearable glory but in the way of weakness, vulnerability, and need...Blessed are the shipwrecked, for they see God in all the trappings of Christmas and experience a joy that the world does not understand."

May you experience joy and wonder that the world does not understand this Christmas as you wait in anticipation of the coming of a King.

1 comment:

  1. elise that was so beautifully said! What book is that quote from? I just love it and am, in fact, copying it from you! I love you and I love your heart

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