Box-shakers. All of You.

A hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is the tree of life.

- Proverbs 13:12

Admit it. You’re a box-shaker. You lurk around the Christmas tree, looking for packages addressed to you. After the traditional “shake”, you consider the size, shape and sound of the little wrapped mystery and you hope for what gift might be unveiled come Christmas Day.

The best is when you open that gift, and it’s way better than you ever dreamed or imagined.

For me, that about sums up the Hope of Advent. The Gift has been delivered. It is not yet time to fully reveal the Gift, so we examine it. We shake it up a bit as we try to make sense of it. The good news is, no matter how much we jostle it around, three truths will remain unshaken:

One, the Gift is addressed to you.

Two, the mystery of the Gift has planted a longing within us to fully unwrap it.

And three, once fully revealed, the Gift will prove to be far more than we ever dreamed or imagined.

So, shake away my friends! Examine and embrace. Hope for the revelation. He’s coming.