Dear Redeeming Grace,

As I've been thinking about this Advent season, the word I keep reflecting on is "anticipation." If you've ever taken a big trip somewhere, you'll recognize all the signs of what it means to anticipate something. You choose the place, the time, the activities, and begin to dreamily look forward.

It becomes so much more than a date on the calendar. A big trip works its effects backwards to you in the present because of what it holds out to you in the future. And, even though you live now on the other side of the trip, you can still recall the anticipation.

During Advent, we have the opportunity to remember the story of God's people and the anticipation before the coming of Jesus. Of course no one knew the date or the hour, but they knew the promise of a child born of a virgin who would be Immanuel. They knew a ruler would come from Bethlehem whose coming was from ancient days. Surely those promises worked their effects backwards, too.

In the same way that we anticipate a big trip or opening a present on Christmas morning, we can spend this season marveling at the promises God once gave and fulfilled in the giving of his Son for us.

Let the remembered longing for a Savior to come breathe fresh joy into the reality that he already has.