Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20
The Now and the Not Yet
“If I find in myself desires which
nothing in this world can satisfy,
the only logical explanation is that
I was made for another world.”
C.S. Lewis
Longing is a very real part of living shared by all of humanity. We try hard to quiet it, sometimes in unhealthy ways, but it eventually returns like an unwelcome intruder in the dead of night. We yearn to close the chapter on longing, to permanently wave goodbye to our unmet desires and the ensuing pain and suffering. We ache to be satisfied in the now while longing for completion in the not yet. Ultimately we long for another world. We long for Heaven.
The holidays can amplify the tension of living in the now and the not yet. As pilgrims on the road between the garden and glory, the Advent season, meant as a time of holy remembrance and anticipation, can easily be overrun by shopping, parties, and fun or tense family gatherings. Spiritual amnesia can set in leaving us overwhelmed, disappointed, and exhausted.
Today, let us choose to remember, to rest and reflect, to shift our focus to the baby, our Savior. Choose to celebrate the new covenant birthed when the Word was made flesh. Marvel that God became a newborn and fulfilled the ancient prophecies with his first cry in a stable.
But, let us also anticipate that Jesus, the baby, the Messiah, the only one to conquer death is coming again for us and then our longing will be complete!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
Zephaniah 3:15 ESV
Amy Grant. The Now and the Not Yet. 1984
