As slow as Christmas. The kids know what that means. For them, Dec. 25 seems a long time coming. Days crawl. The wait is agonizing. It feels that the magical day and the dreamed-of gifts will never arrive. But it finally does. And when it does, it is worth all the waiting.
As slow as Christmas. For nearly 2,000 years, Christians have been waiting. Centuries have crawled by. Sometimes the wait is agonizing. Most times, I fear, we just forget that there is a grand, magical day coming when we will receive gifts beyond our dreams.
It’s tempting to think the long wait means that nothing is coming. That was predicted: “scoffers will come … They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
As slow as Christmas? It doesn’t seem so slow for adults, does it? For those who have lived through a few more Decembers, the perspective changes. Christmas comes around much faster. In fact, it seems to come too fast! We don’t have time to fully get ready — too much shopping, cooking, cleaning, and preparing to do.
Our Father’s perspective on the second coming of Jesus is different like that, too. Knowing that some are not yet ready, he sees the wait as a good thing. He postpones the day because, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (3:9).
If we think about Christmas a bit, it may help us to see waiting as a good thing, too. When you were a child waiting for Christmas, didn’t all the agonizing anticipation make the day all the sweeter when it finally arrived?
Nights dreaming and wishing for that one special gift were part of what made it so exciting when you saw it under the tree. The box was the right size. It might just be the one. Could it be? Yes, it is! Everything you had wanted was there — and then some. There were other good gifts that you hadn’t thought to ask for.
Surely, that is how it will be when Christ comes to take his younger brothers and sisters to his Father’s house. Everything we ever imagined will be there — and then some.
As slow as Christmas. Let’s enjoy the anticipation and savor the slowness.

Keith Wishum is minister, Williams Road Church, Americus.