Saturday, Day 7 - "Get Ready, It's Time"

In his book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go," Dr. Seuss talks about a place called "the waiting place." He describes it the place where people are just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

We come to the end of the first week of Advent and we are waiting.

It’s still many days until Christmas – the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth.

The people of God during the days before Jesus was born were waiting.  They were waiting for someone sent from God to come and save them.  They were waiting for God’s promise to come true.

Sometimes, when we wait a long time for something to come, we can forget that it’s really going to happen.

In fact, sometimes when we wait for a long time for something to come, we can think “it’s never going to happen.”

Do you know that God never forgets what he promised?

He wrote a letter to his people to tell them that he had not forgotten.

And he promised them… Malachi 3:1
¹  “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

God said, “I’m going to send you my Messenger”.

A Messenger was someone who would come to tell God’s people, in fact to tell the whole world, of what God was going to do.

And God said, I’m sending the one you’re waiting for and he will make all the difference in the world.

So Get Ready!

How do we get ready?

If Mom says “it’s time to get ready for school”, you know what to do, don’t you?

If your parents say, “We are going to go grocery shopping, get ready”, you know what to do, don’t you?

Now God was telling them to “Get Ready”.

When God says “get ready” he isn’t saying it because they are in trouble, but because he wants to do something for them to make everything right.

·         God was coming to rescue them.

·         God was coming to help them in their difficult things.

·         God was coming to make their lives happy.

They were getting ready for a Party!  It was going to soon be Jesus’ birthday!

How can we get ready for Jesus’ birthday today?

Think of some ways – talk to Mom or Dad – about how we can get ready. 

Perhaps you can make some Christmas cards for your friends, or neighbors.  Maybe you and your parents can take a card and some Christmas treats to someone.

Getting ready?   How about learning some Christmas songs?  We sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” which is a great Advent song. 

You can hear it and learn how to sing it by looking at this site:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzW_PmW-LzE

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Parents:  Another one that I personally love but is less well known, is “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”… 

You can hear it sung at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbMwD24flbA

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

This is the end of the first week, and tomorrow we’ll see how God began to show His people “It’s Time!”

Here’s a page to color that looks like a letter that the people read.  It has some words on that your parents can help you with and you can write what you want.

For Parents and Other Not Kids:

I have heard that if you live to be seventy years old, you will spend three years of your life just waiting.  

Waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting in the doctor's office, waiting for lunch to be ready, waiting, just waiting.

While we are thinking about Jesus’ birth and the first Advent; Jesus also talked about waiting in relation to his return - the second Advent: 

Mark 13:32-37 (NIV) 
³² "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.
³⁴ It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
³⁵ "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.
³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.
³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'" 

Advent is a season of expectancy and waiting.  

Christmas is almost here.  

The celebration of Jesus' coming - Immanuel, God with us - is already here.  

We celebrate with decorations, with candles, music, gifts, lights, etc...but it is not just for NOW, it is also an expectancy and hope that Jesus will return to earth in all of his glory, and God's power and majesty will bring His Kingdom to fullness upon the earth. 

In the meantime, we wait...with hope, and faith that God will come...and sometimes that is just for our own self.

Waiting is often uncomfortable, simply because it seems so useless.  Sometimes though waiting is uncomfortable because it's outside of our control, and it is dominated by fear.

Some are waiting right now with that in place. 

·         Waiting for a child to be born, while hoping all will be well; 

·         Waiting for a mate to be discovered, while not being sure how or when that will occur; 

·         Waiting in hope that the treatments while work, while holding off fear that they won't;

·         Waiting for the job to come, while doing resumes and searching the job lines everyday;

·         Waiting for healing to finally come, while walking down the road of recovery;

·         Waiting for reconciliation, or forgiveness, and yet experiencing distance;

·         Waiting for the pain to go away, but living with it every day. 

There are so many difficult ways that we wait.

The Old Testament Prophet Micah said:
Micah 7:7 (NIV) 
⁷ But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Advent is a season of expectancy, of watching, of waiting.  

Go ahead and buy those gifts, sing carols, decorate and enjoy; but remember that we are waiting for Jesus and it is He who is our hope.  

That hope is real to us - whether present or elusive - every day of our lives. 

We can wait in hope...our God has come and will come again.  While we wait for him, my prayer is that we will not forget that he comes to, and for us, over and over again every day of our life.

May God fill you with joy, faith, hope and love as you wait for Him.

Peace