Good morning Hump Day readers. Well, another Christmas has come and gone. I hope yours was meaningful and filled with hope! I remember as kids we’d get back to school and then ask each other “did you get what you wanted at Christmas?” As we get older, we often call family and friends and ask “did our package arrive?” It is in those moments I confess I am grateful for Amazon’s almost-perfect timing of my packages!!

Here’s a cute but poignant store of two sons: ‘A mother told her two sons that she was about to bake some homemade chocolate chip cookies for them. They both licked their lips, eyes sparkling at the thought of warm, chewy cookies fresh from the oven. Mom’s cookies were always the best! Then, the oldest son ran off to play his video game, getting lost in an electronic world on the screen. The youngest son, however, sat at the kitchen counter watching his mom make the dough (trying not to taste it in advance), then scoop the cookies onto the baking sheet and place them in the oven. They chatted as the cookies baked, and when they came out, he excitedly watched as she set them on a rack to cool. It took all his might to not grab a hot cookie! He waited though until mom gave him a warm cookie instead of one that would burn his mouth! The delight on his face warmed his mother’s heart. She called out to the other son, but he yelled back “I busy, have to finish this game, I’ll get one later.” His longing was to arrive beating the game on his computer—but sadly, what he missed in that time with his mother and brother is now past and gone.

How about our souls, our hearts that live with all kinds of longing, waiting for something or someone to arrive. Promises come and often are not fulfilled. Plans go awry and the storm, like this Christmas year, keeps you home instead of with your family. What can we be sure of anymore? Well, right after Christmas Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus to the temple…lets let Scripture tell us the details, using the Message translation Luke 2:25-32:

“In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God: God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised. With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation; it’s now out in the open for everyone to see: A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel.”

I think Simeon is like that youngest son. He had heard God’s promise of a Messiah, and rather than just go about life waiting but not watching for it, he expectantly believed God would do what He said He would. He longed for it—it was the most important thing in his life! So, when Jesus came, Simeon was ready, and he was one of the first to recognize the child for who He really was – the promised salvation he’d been waiting for! Simeon’s longing had arrived and his life was never the same again. He could, indeed, die in heavenly peace.

Like the older boy, we are living in the time when the promise of salvation has already come, but we are yet waiting for the promise of Christ’s return. Are we longing for it? Or, are we busying ourselves with other things? Sometimes that busyness takes over our longings and expectations and crowds out our nearness to God. A quick prayer a day and we’re off doing something else. It’s no wonder we can be in a crowd and feel lonely; or get all things we long for but still feel a void. Why? Because only God can truly fill that void.

If you’re like me, there are some days I just shout out “come Lord Jesus – come now!” When I think of that though, am I ready, am I longing for it or begging for a quick way out? While we wait for the fulfillment of Christ’s return, we need to remember that Jesus does come “now” every day to us. His promises are sure, His healing is powerful, and His love and peace take us through the days until we will see Him face-to-face. May you long for that day, and trust that the arrival will be perfect and when it comes, you will be on the most incredible adventure you’ve ever had with the Lord ever—AMEN!