For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.

Isaiah 9:6-7

Christmas is the season of expectation. Kids are expecting presents and candy and a visit from the big guy. Adults are expecting shopping and eating and celebrating and singing, and also probably some stress, to be honest. We’re expecting decorations and ribbons and wrappings and stockings and trees. 

In our house, we try to heighten the expectation of Christmas with Advent calendars and countdowns, some of which are more spiritually focused than others, to be honest. We have chocolate countdown Advent calendars. We have a “25 Kisses of Christmas” countdown box with Hershey Kisses in it, which I realize is also a chocolate countdown. You sense a theme here, I’m sure. My wife has a Nespresso pod Advent calendar this year that she’s really excited about. 

I bought a new Advent countdown calendar this year as well. It’s for our dog. Judge if you wish. Our dog’s name is Brother. (You read that correctly. It would take too long to explain. Just go with it. I call him The Man Dog to boost his self-esteem if that works better for you.) 

You may not know this, but they make Advent calendars for dogs. And I mean, not just one kind of Advent calendar for dogs. There is a variety of Advent calendars for dogs. I had to do a lot of research. Brother is a 13-year-old 4lb Yorkie, so I really had to read the labels and reviews. (In the spirit of transparency, my wife thinks these treats are going to give him diarrhea, but I think she’s just not in the Christmas spirit yet.)

One thing to know about Brother is that his favorite thing in the whole world is eating. I know, it sounds strange that a 4lb Yorkie’s favorite thing is eating, but trust me, you don’t want to get in between him and his food bowl. He LOVES to eat more than life itself, so I know he’s going to wake up every day ready for his treat. He’ll be expecting it. He’ll be excited and wagging his tail and looking at me with his pleading Yorkie eyes. Also, please pray for me after Christmas. He is not going to understand why the treats stopped.

That’s the difference between Brother’s Advent experience and ours. He is going to be so excited for 25 days, and then it will be over. He won’t know why it’s over. It will just be over, and everything will go back to the way it was. The season of expectation will lead to a big disappointment for him. 

2000 years ago, God’s people were in a season of expectation. They were expecting a Savior. They waited. They prayed. They hoped. And one night in Bethlehem, a baby was born. The great thing about that night is that it didn’t end there. It wasn’t a case where they experienced all of the excitement and expectation and then it was just over. This baby would change the world. The impact He made would not end the night He was born. It wouldn’t even end when He was crucified and put in a tomb. The One they waited for, the One they hoped for, the One they were expecting continues to change lives today. Nothing went back to the way it was after Jesus came. Jesus changed everything.

For the month of December (ok a little longer for some of us), we get to celebrate His coming. We remind ourselves of the joy that we experience because God’s Son stepped out of heaven and came to earth. No matter if our celebrations are big or small, elaborate or simple, the Christmas season represents only the beginning. The beginning of all that God has done through Jesus. The beginning of all that He wants to do in us in the future. 

As he was expecting the Messiah to come, Isaiah prophesied:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9:6-7

Did you catch that last phrase? It said, “there will be no end.” There will be no end to his greatness and power. There will be no end to His gracious rule. There will be no end to His peace. We’re never going to wake up one morning and realize the goodness of God has ended. We’re never going to reach the end of His gifts of love and joy. They will go on and on.

So be expectant. Be excited about who God is and what He is doing. Eat some chocolate every morning for the next 25 days. Share some joy with your friends or your kids or your spouse or even your dog. Look forward to the good work of God that is going to continue in us forever and ever. For to us a child is born!

Ken Sirmans