Longing for Christmas – Part 1

It’s that time of the year again. Some may say not yet, but that just depends on one’s perspective, doesn’t it? The constant blaring of Christmas carols in malls and stores everywhere remind us we’re in the “ber” months, the last four in the year leading to December and the Christmas season. It does seem a bit earlier this time, as if business was not so good this year, they’re hoping to entice people to part with their monies earlier for a little bit of a cheer. As if that is just simply what it is – an excuse to be happy, for a life that otherwise was not.

And indeed, the real heart of Christmas is precisely just that – a promise of profound joy and personal fulfillment of the purpose of life. We all seek the same eternal truth for the whole of our lifetime because we all know we both need, and want, that which is outside of ourselves to understand the reason for living, even those who don’t believe in God. But those of the faith who call themselves Christians by whatever definition long for Christmas, in their own ways. The entire history of the Bible is replete with prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, the King, the Savior who will free us from the bondage of sin that each of us is bound to realize in our deepest personal convictions.

It was the Creator himself who promised the coming of the Savior, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned. And he addressed his intention to the devil himself! ““And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15). Later he made the covenant with Abraham as the father of all nations, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Promising that from the descendants of Abraham will come the Messiah.

For thousands of years, the Israelites, the people of God, waited and longed for the coming of the Savior. For God has repeatedly made the same promise, not only to Abraham, but to his son, Isaac, and later to his grandson (Isaac’s son), Jacob. Down the line of Moses, through the exodus from Egypt, to the time of the twelve tribes, the judges, kings, and prophets, the people of God waited for the birth of the Savior. Before Jacob died, he gave his last words to his 12 sons, telling them what will happen to each of them in the days to come. And to Judah, he prophesied, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.”

It’s just a pity, oftentimes that genuine longing for God is diverted to an expectation of parties, bonuses, merrymaking, exchanging of gifts, etc., instead of longing for the Savior.