The Season

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:2-4

This king was not born in a palace or dressed in fine linens, he wasn't treated any different than other kids running around town. Nothing about his appearance would make people desire him, and yet what he did for this world makes him the most desirable man in history. His birth provided the world a Savior, by his wounds we are healed and through his punishment peace is available to us. No other man or woman can make that claim.

Today is the first day of Advent, the season to celebrate the arrival of the Messiah in that manger a few thousand years ago and the promise that he will come again. This season is a time to remember the long period that the Hebrew people waited for their Messiah, and to remind ourselves that He is indeed coming back again.

As I finish up decorating the house, searching for Christmas gifts, and getting ready for Matt's mom's arrival, I'm trying to take time to remember all that Christmas is about. Not just the birth, the star, the shepherds, and the wisemen - but the Cross, the empty tomb, and the gift of salvation. Not just shipping, shopping, and cooking - but the joy of giving, celebrating, and eating! It is a whole giant package rolled up into one season. This is an exciting time of year!

At his birth, and in his life, he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, but one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord.