“Brenda, Brenda wake-up. It’s Christmas,” my older brother’s enthusiasm whirled in my ears and lifted me to my feet.
Eddie
was always the first one awake on Christmas morning – 4:30 a.m. Once he swore
sleigh bells woke him. I believed him and the excitement of the day stirred in
me as we tiptoed down the steps. We stopped on the landing, which divided into
two sets of stairs. One led to the kitchen. The other was an open staircase to
the front room where the Christmas tree guarded our presents. We sat on the top
step and filled our eyes with wonder. When we absorbed all we could handle, we
ran back upstairs to waken our sisters. Then, the four of us repeated the
procedure.
We were not permitted to wake our parents until 6 a.m. Time nearly stopped as we watched the clock. When the big hand finally stood on the little hand’s head, eight feet stampeded into our parent’s bedroom.
Few things motivated me more than my brother’s enthusiasm for Christmas morning. It was catching and stirred a desire in our entire family to get up and begin the festivities. Eddie maintained his excitement for Christmas while we lived at home because he filled his mind with the hope of receiving everything he wanted.If we look forward to receiving everything God has for us according to His word, we can motivate ourselves to wait for the Lord. Based on God’s infallible promises, our enthusiasm can ignite genuine hope in others, which will motivate them to begin walking in the light of the Lord. Looking forward to Jesus’ return, we become as children watching and waiting for Christmas morning. However, our expectations are too shallow. We cannot dream big enough to envision the wonders God is preparing for those who love Him. The grandest festivities on earth will appear as dust particles dancing in the sunlight when compared to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Nonetheless,
hope has a tendency to diminish as the second hand taps around the clock. We
stand motionless watching, listening to the endless tic-tock. We wonder if the
time will ever arrive. We wrestle with the temptation to fall asleep. Instead of
us waking others, we need someone to waken us. That is why we celebrate
Christmas – to keep us motivated. The excitement of the appearance of the
Christ child stirs the anticipation of His second coming. Perhaps, the best gift
we can give is motivation to continue on God’s Wait Management Program.
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