I have always enjoyed collecting cars. As a kid I had boxes over-flowing with Matchbox Cars. But these cars were not to be placed untouched on a display shelf, but pawns to my over-active imagination as I spent hours on end playing with the cars and making up extravagant adventures as I went along. I could be anyone and go anywhere as I imagined myself behind the wheel of my favorite cars in my ever-growing collection. In Junior High I found a new hobby and began building 1:25 scale plastic model kits of 1960’s Muscle Cars. I never took the time to paint the completed models, so I had matching white cars on every available space in my bedroom!
By the end of my days at Santa Rosa Junior College, I
had met the gal I would eventually marry and together we delved into our joint
joy of Hot Cars and began collecting the real ones! Through the next forty some years we owned
everything from two-seater English and Japanese sports cars, to four-wheel
drive trucks, to hot station wagons, and onward to one of each of the three
most popular Pony Cars… Challenger, Camaro and Mustang! And today I find myself reverting back to
my younger years as I have begun, once again, collecting 1:25 scale, precision
diecast model Pony cars!
As a kid I can still clearly remember the WONDER
and excitement that I would feel when I would find a small (approximately
2”) box wrapped under the Christmas tree.
My mom had a tradition of slowly adding wrapped presents under the tree
each day during the week proceeding Christmas Eve, when we normally opened
most of our presents… and since she usually started with the smallest ones
first… you can imagine of how I was ready to burst with anticipation as we
gathered around the tree on Christmas Eve!
I have to admit that this Holiday Season has been the
toughest for me yet, since the passing of my wife six years ago. But I was pleasantly surprised the other day,
when I felt that familiar old spark of WONDER and excitement
perk up in me as I began to study the prophet Isaiah’s foretelling to the Jews
in Judea of the coming of a Savior many hundreds of years in their future. He boldly declared to a downcast nation,
“For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be called WONDER-FULL, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace.” (KJV)
You’ll notice that I split the word translated
WONDERFUL into two words. I did that
because it was the way that I first read this very familiar verse this
year. I became aware that the scripture
does not automatically combine the words WONDERFUL and Counselor…
like I’ve always read it and heard it preached.
It is actually two separate Anointings, Characteristics, Roles,
Positions or Titles given to the coming Savior.
And it made me literally jump for JOY with
the anticipation of the WONDER of Jesus filling my
life! The Sermon Bible Commentary makes
a point of importance when it states that WONDER “is the first
title which the prophetic herald assigns to the new born prince.” Explaining in detail, that Jesus is WONDERFUL
in His nature, in His offices and in RELATION to
His people.
I would summarize the commentary in John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible for WONDERFUL in this verse by stating
that Jesus is full of WONDER in every aspect of His being,
in every aspect of His name and in every aspect of His Word. Dictionary.com defines WONDERFUL
as “to think or speculate curiously, to be filled with admiration, amazement
or awe, and to feel WONDER at.”
I had to pause and laugh at this definition because it reminded me of
the way I always felt about my wife, Piper.
She had a way of keeping things in our relationship fresh, fun
and exciting… and enjoyed keeping me in anticipation of her next
unexpected, humor-filled action!
And you know…
that is very similar to the way that I like to live in my relationship with
Jesus! I’ve come to the point in my life
where I don’t EVER want to lose the sense of WONDER,
anticipation and expectation that I feel when I read and study my
Bible, pray and allow my faith to be a witness of His WONDER in
the daily routines, events and human interactions of my life.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Let’s do something together this CHRISTMAS
season… Let go back and remember the WONDER and excitement
that we felt in our childhood years when it came to anticipating and
then tearing open the presents under our family tree… and then think of the WONDER
that Jesus promises to bring into our lives in the here and now…
at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.
My confession is that I am coming ALIVE
and will THRIVE in 2025… why don’t you join me in fully EXPECTING
the manifestation of the WONDER that was brought with the
baby Jesus that Isaiah prophesized about… to be STIR-ED UP,
ACTIVE and ALIVE in our lives… starting RIGHT
NOW… TODAY!
Hummm… Less the 2 weeks til Christmas… are you ready?
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