We are in the season of Advent and how wonderful it is. It’s a time to prepare our hearts for the coming King. Yes, of course He came for the first time a couple thousand years ago, but Advent occurs every year to help us reflect on what His being born means for us.
It’s all about celebrating the promises of God—especially His promise of a Savior. The prophets foretold of the coming Messiah and for about 735 years His people waited for this promise to be fulfilled.
Jesus could have come into this world as a more powerful being than a small, helpless child, but God wanted Him to come as part God and part man. In order to truly live among us, He needed to be like us. The plan was to live as a man and experience everything you and I experience—love, loss, joy, hardship, comfort, and pain.
There is nothing you will go through in life that Jesus did not go through when He walked this earth. He was here for a purpose and was here on purpose to fulfill the promise of God and the prophesy of men. Jesus can give you hope when all hope seems lost because only He has overcome the world.
Mary and Joseph were told they would be parents to Immanuel, God with us. Even with the prophecy that was hundreds of years old, this still came as a shock. God chose two ordinary God-fearing people to parent His Son.
They were so young and unprepared. The marriage had not yet happened and it all could have been a big scandal since there wasn’t any possibility the child was Joseph’s. Just like they prepared their hearts and their lives to meet their son, we also should spend time preparing ourselves for His arrival.
Accept and hold on to the promise God gave you of a Savior. He was born Immanuel. God knew you would need Him to be with you and that you would need hope, peace, and grace. All of this came in the gift of Jesus. He was born for you and for me—no exclusions.
He not only walks with you, but when you give your life to Him, He lives in you. Jesus literally saves you from the inside out and it starts with a change of heart and mind and a giving up of control.
All of God’s promises always come to pass. Prepare your heart for the birth of your Savior and mine as we head into this joyous Christmas season.
What is one thing that stands out to you as an amazing detail in the story of the Messiah coming to earth?
