“the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.   To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:26-27  Christmas is Anticipation.  Have you ever tried to keep a secret, perhaps a surprise birthday or anniversary party for a close friend or member of the family? Have you ever bought a gift that you just knew was going to blow their socks off and yet you had to wait to see the expression on their face. There are a couple of things that make these kinds of secrets especially difficult to keep. (1)  The length of time you’ve been preparing. The more time and thought you put into a gift the more powerful it is. If you buy your gifts at the last minute on Christmas Eve, you’re probably desperate and willing to buy just about anything to fulfill an obligation. But what if you bought this one-of-a-kind gift in August and were so thrilled you found something so amazing. The secret of the gift grows in intensity with time. (2) The impact it will have on the future, especially relationships.  Setting up the right conditions to ask for her hand in marriage or creating a video of pictures for a special 50th anniversary is far more powerful than setting up your company’s Christmas party. (3) How personalized the gift is. The idea of one size fits all is good for selling, but not for receiving. Have you ever heard someone open a gift and say “this is just what I needed, how did you know”? Great gifts are uniquely suited to the recipient.
 an·tic·i·pa·tion (n-ts-pshn)  the feeling that something is about to happen, excited anticipation of an approaching climax; a specific feeling hopefulness
The Bible is filled with anticipation. The history of the Bible has a sense of movement about it as each book, each chapter builds to some climatic event, but what is it? You can almost feel the anticipation through the generations, the prophets had hints of it, the angels longed to be let in on it (1 peter 1:12) and humanity waited to receive it. But now it was being revealed. In the Garden of Eden the serpent causes Eve to stumble but a time will come, God said, when the serpent will be crushed by her son. Before Abraham could lay a hand on his son Isaac, God said “stop” and offered a ram as a substitute. In order to break the hold of slavery and leave Egypt, innocent lambs are sacrificed to cover the doors of the Hebrew home to protect them from the Angel of Death. When the Angels break in on the quiet conversation of the shepherds, I get a sense they just couldn’t keep the secret any longer. The mystery was being revealed.
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11
 I know what you may be thinking. I’ve heard the Christmas story so many times I can recite it by heart, the mystery’s gone, the secret’s out and all that’s left are the rituals and routines. Not so! Look again, closer this time, and I think you’ll find you’ve missed something. There is yet a greater gift yet to be revealed, more anticipation is building. Christ in you the hope of Glory. How do you build anticipation into your Christmas traditions?  What is the best secret you ever had and what made it so? Why is God's plan such a mystery to us? (see Isaiah 55:8-9) “Never forget that anticipation is an important part of life. Work's important, family's important, but without excitement, you have nothing. You're cheating yourself if you refuse to enjoy what's coming.” Nicholas Sparks, Three Weeks With My Brother
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