Christmas in Isaiah- A Feast Worth the Wait

Moving back to Alabama in 2010 made me realize a lot of things... but football and food is amped up here just a little bit, y'all.

Spiritual sanctification is never easy....  We do need to practice fasting more than we do.. it is a spiritual disciple. And fasting is not just food.... we can give up, or purposely withhold for a time, good things to focus our relationship with the Lord.

But God also allows times of prudent feasting. He understands and even ordains pleasure with friends and family around a meal. Celebration meals are a part of His prescription to remember and honor.

I wish I had time to use this space to parallel the Passover feast to the institution of the Lord's supper on the night that Jesus was betrayed.

Jesus did not take the last cup of wine..... and there is now an anticipation of a great feast when He returns again!

Christmas somehow heightens ANTICIPATION.... I can't wait for it!

 It is like being a kid on Christmas Eve and not being able to sleep!

Isaiah 25 expresses why the Lord is worth the wait. Jesus came at the right time. The baby came into a world ready for the gospel. The Roman roads and the greek language were to be the vehicles for the spread of this amazing story.

During this time of year, we get to  enjoy amazing Christmas parties and dinners- When you consider Isaiah 25... you get a hint of what the Lord is cookin' up!

Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Can you imagine the celebration?

Loved ones who have been lost are now back with you- healthy and vibrant.

Your faith has now become sight- and you see the Lord in His splendor and you marvel at His great grace.

You entered into the feast broken, tired ..... hanging on by a thread.

He wiped the tears from your eyes and says 'Welcome home, my child!"

You see His scars and you now understand so much more.... and there are an innumerable sea of souls that have been ransomed by the Lamb who was slain!

A new heaven and earth are presented in glory and perfection. And you realize that Jesus thought of you!

You lack for nothing.

The angels erupt in the most beautiful display of light, and color, and sound......

And you experience something you have never experienced before. You realize that this is eternal. 

All of your previous earthly joys had an ending. The sun set on your fishing expedition. You played the 18th hole, and you experienced the slight sadness of it being over. The season ended. Friends departed. Life changed. All earthly pleasures are fleeting and temporary.

But not now.... 

Are you beginning to see it?

On God's Holy mountain, there is coming a feast- a celebration- that is too wonderful for you to even attempt to understand it. If the joys of this life are amazing, what about the next?

The God who created the thrill of a roller coater ride and the spiritual awe of the Rocky Mountains.... don't you understand that the best is yet to come?

I can hardly wait on it..... but it is worth the wait.

God is being patient and merciful.... He doesn't want you to miss out.

Christmas is a wonderful time to come back to Jesus... the ability to get right with Him is one amazing gift.

Come home, my child!