Advent Devotions - December 10

Luke 2:1-7

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

“While they were there, the time came….” How do you hear these familiar words that bring us to the climax of all of history?

Are you watching, eagerly waiting with open eyes, open ears, and an open heart, for the Son to come? For Him to be conceived in you, to change you and to live through you?

Or perhaps all this waiting and watching has worn you down, leaving you without the strength to carry on, with hope far behind, something you remember, but cannot access anymore.

Maybe you are so distracted with the busyness and small circumstantial hopes life brings, that you have forgotten what you were supposed to be waiting for.

Don’t despair, and don’t lose heart. Whether you are holding on to this hope with strength you don’t even have, or you are trying to force your eyes back open because you have been asleep at the wheel, your God is safe to trust. Simply look again. Draw near. Rejoice. For the time has come, the time is come, and the time will come.