I want to be like....

Oh for grace to be like Mary... who said, yes, Your will, Lord!  No hesitation to accept God's grace and mandate; no first protests for personal comfort, previous plans, or the opinions of others. 

Oh for grace to be like the shepherds... willing for their work to be inturrupted, ready to do the angel's bidding.  Living a life of humility and quietness... practicing the stillness nessesary to hear God's plan.  

Oh for grace to be like Simeon... filled with the Holy Spirit, alert, listening, watching, and bold. 

Oh for grace to be like Anna... faithful... constant... worshipful... prayerful and disciplined... waiting and watching, for the coming of the Redeemer.  The loss of her husband, and many many years as a widow did not make her bitter, selfish, or inward, but rather more faithful and devoted to worship, fasting, and prayer.  Anna knew God and so she recognized Him when He came... if ever we need a role model for what a Godly woman should be like when she is old, I believe it is found in Anna.

Oh that like all these characters, I would be found faithful, willing, quiet, flexible, prayerful, hopeful, worshipful, and alert... because He who came, is coming again. 

Before He left this old earth, He told us to wait for Him and to be found faithful, ready, and watching when He returns (Mat. 24:42, Mk. 13:33-37, Lk. 12:37-39, Lk. 21:34, 36, Rev. 3:1-3, 16:15).   The next time He comes it will be as the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Lion of Judah, the valiant Bridegroom returning for His own.

When He returns, I want to be found in the same state as these favorite Christmas story characters of mine... they didn't know God as Man (as baby, really) would be coming that day or that year... but I have a feeling it wouldn't have made much difference, had they known. They lived their daily lives this way because they feared and loved God... faithful in the hum-drum, always listening, willing, waiting, and watching. 

Jesus may or may not return in my lifetime.  But I want to be faithful in the hum-drum, always listening, willing, waiting, and watching.  Ready.  Prepared.  Obedient.  Filled with the Holy Spirit. 

I can hear the lessons from these faithful witnesses, or I can heed them.  Hope cannot be borrowed and preparation cannot be shared, I've heard it said.  I want to heed their wordless examples...   for He who came, is coming again.