For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Prophets foretold of the Messiah’s arrival long before His coming. They spoke promises of His greatness and glory.

How eagerly God’s people awaited His arrival; how confused they must have been at His humble station, His gentle nature.

How disappointed many must have been when He did not lead armies or overthrow governments, when their hopes for a physical King were not fulfilled.

Even today, over 2,000 years later, we are in wonder of His coming and His love. Even today, I long for His love and peace and mercy and counsel to reign in the world. I envision how perfect the world would be if all followed His teaching and example; we would have no hate, no war, no starvation, no homelessness, no greed, no oppression. Everyone would love and take care of everyone else and all would be perfect as He is perfect.

Sometimes though longing for that day to come makes me forget about letting Him reign in my life today and tomorrow and every day between now and when He takes me home or comes back to take over as foretold.

Sweet friend, it is good to long for the day when Christ’s love, peace, mercy, and counsel reign over all the world, but we must be careful not to allow longing for that day to cause us to forget the He desires to reign in our lives THIS day.

Isaiah 9:6 reminds us that Christ already came for all of us and one day He will return, but in the meantime, while it may seem that fewer people are leaning on Him or following Him right now, I can do both.

While we long for the day when the whole world knows His counsel and joy and peace and calls out to Him “Abba, Father!”, on this day we can call on Him and He will give us peace, joy, and counsel through His Word and His Spirit, through prayer, and through the encouragement and advice of Godly men and women.

He is a mighty God who knows us all by name, who knew us before we were born, who seeks and can maintain a personal relationship with every, single person on Earth at once. He truly is the Everlasting Father, and all we have to do to connect to Him is open our hearts to receive Him.

Beloved, our King is waiting for us, longing to reign in our hearts, to wipe away our tears, to give us comfort and peace, strength and wisdom, hope and joy. For a child was born unto us, a Son was given to us!

As we continue celebrating His birth into the new year, there’s no better time than now to receive Him – no better time than now to begin experiencing the wonders of His love.

If you’ve strayed from the Lord, then there’s no better time than now to return and allow Him to take His rightful place on the throne of your heart again.

How I long for the day when the King returns and takes us to His Kingdom and yet how I revel in each day that He reigns here on the humble throne of my heart!