What is the longest time you have ever waited for something?  A day, a week, a month, a year?  Seems like it’s getting harder and harder to wait.  If you see something you like, you want mom and dad to buy it right now, why wait?  Small things are easier to get than big things.  Usually there is less waiting.  For big things, our parents often tell us to “be patient.” 

I had a great aunt who lived in Wisconsin.  She really wanted a snow sled for Christmas.  In 1904, a sled was a big present.  That year, the parents decided to give out presents at the school Christmas program.  She was the last child called to the stage.  When she saw the snow sled, she jumped up so quickly that she knocked over the coat rack.

In the 700’s BC, the people of Judah were not patient.  Their enemies had come to terrify and conquer them.  When would God save them?  The real problem was that the people of Judah were wicked.  They had repeatedly disobeyed God.  They did not love God or treat their neighbors well.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God called the people to change.

But, they were not changing so only a big fix would work.  God lovingly remembered His people and made an enormous pledge.  Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

The only way to save the people from sin was to send the biggest present possible.  So God wrapped himself up as a little baby and sent Himself to a virgin named Mary.  He is called Immanuel, ‘God with us.”  Jesus arrived in a stable in Bethlehem 700 years after the Prophet Isaiah spoke God’s promise.  Even after 700 years of waiting, many people we not ready to hear the good news of His life, death and resurrection to save us from our sins by faith in Jesus Christ.

Are you patiently waiting for a big gift?  Are you ready to receive it?  When you hear the good news and your name called, will you jump up, even knock over a coat rack to receive this precious gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ?  Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.  Amen.

Pastor Raymond Van Buskirk, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Baytown, Texas www.rlcbaytown.org