As I write this, it is still November. Al-ready it has snowed a few times, and some of that snow has even stuck, if only for a day or so. Most of you know that I am a big fan of winter in general, and of snow in particular, so seeing snow this early in the year excites me. I know that many of you hate the cold and snow and ice, but I’m not writing to extol the virtues of winter; we could be talking about the first breath of spring, the first warmish day after months of bone-chilling cold, but this is my essay, so we’re talking about my kind of weather. Even though I know winter is not really here yet (the extended forecast calls for temperatures in or near the fifties again), and even though we haven’t yet had “real” snow, the excitement comes from the indicators. What we have had is a taste of what’s yet to come.
One thing that makes winter great is its association with Christmas. And one great thing about the Christmas season is the inescapable sense of anticipation. There is such a buildup of preparations, hustle, shopping, wrapping, traveling, etc.! Oh, I know: the traffic, the crass commercialization, the political correctness, the “war on Christmas”, all that, can get to be a headache. But you know what? Even in the middle of all that, I feel like I’m in on some great secret that makes me laugh. Because no matter what anyone else wants to call it or what significance they want to attach to it or divorce it from, I know. You know. Ultimately, this is about Him.
And the anticipation and all the attendant business serve to remind us, if we let them, that the world was groaning in anticipation of His arri-val 2,000 years ago; that His coming was the beginning of the fulfillment of a promise. And we remember that it didn’t end there in Bethle-hem. His ministry was more of a “taste of what is yet to come.” His disciples were, however briefly, “eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Peter 1:16)”. His work of redemption was completed on the cross, and we have become, because of that, new creatures in Christ. We can know sweet fellowship, we can walk in the power of His Holy Spirit, and experience joy the world cannot even imagine. Yet it is still only a taste of what is yet to come. A taste of what it will be like when we are finally, manifestly WITH HIM forever.
And as that day draws closer, things will get busy. There will be distractions galore, and many things will tempt us to despair and pull our focus away from what’s coming. Don’t let it happen to you. Look around; enjoy this moment for what it is, and if the happy circumstances don’t “stick” (like the first snow), remember, every temporary happiness is just a taste of what is to come. True happiness, like true winter, is just around the corner.
Merry Christmas!
