Advent, 14 days to go!

We are officially 14 days away from Christmas! Who's excited? It's funny because this season always fills me with anticipation of what's ultimately to come (Christmas Day). I suspect that feeling of anticipation, to some degree, is in all of us. But it leads me to wonder, how those wise men must've felt when traveling to see the 'King of the Jews' who had been recently born. 

In Matthew's Gospel in chapter 2, the Bible tells us that the star they had followed was at rest over the place where Jesus lay. And when the wise men saw the star over the place where Jesus lay, we are told that: '...they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.'

I didn't know it was possible to rejoice at something with only little joy....but they rejoiced with GREAT joy. In other words, they were really, really, really, really happy at what they were now seeing. You see, they set off from a foreign and distant land, looking for the King of the Jews. They set off with great anticipation to find something truly remarkable and their journey finished with great delight because they found someone truly remarkable. They had found what they were looking for. The true King. 

The Bible tells us that God is not far from any one of us (Acts 17). If we want to find him, we only need to look for him. I would suggest to us all, that we too, like those wise men, could make our own spiritual journey in pursuit of the true King. And here's the good news: we too, can find him, like those wise men but not as a baby in a manger, but as a man who is King over heaven and earth. Who came, who lived, who died for us all, and who indeed lives forevermore. 

In this season that fills us with great anticipation, let us remember that Christ came and one day, he shall come again for his bride, that is the church - and may that truth fill us all with great anticipation!