Day 20 Advent Devotional | December 23rd
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Christmas is “The most wonderful time of the year” for almost everyone. We love the family gathering together to share coco and sweet treats! We love to decorate the tree with our grandkids and then exchange gifts in all the traditions of our childhood days. It is often a time when we contemplate the blessings of family and reflect upon the joy of both giving and receiving.
I sometimes wonder how God could love this old world with all the fussing and fighting that is going on. He had already given us everything we have – even the next breath of air that we take is a gift from God. To our shame we often use that gift of air to gossip about our brothers and sisters or to tell a lie. But the truth of Christmas is that God really does love us!
How much does God love us! The gift He gave on that first Christmas was “His only begotten Son” – Jesus. Jesus is The fullness of God and He is perfect in every way! So why in the world would God’s unique Son Jesus leave the glory of heaven and come to earth as a baby to be Gods gift to us?
The truth of Christmas is that every man, woman, boy, and girl is “perishing” and we need HELP! We are all sinners and we need to be rescued! The Bible says that God proved his love for each of us in that while we were still sinners Jesus Christ died for us! Now THAT is the greatest LOVE and the greatest GIFT ever given!
Take a minute to consider how much God loves you and what a joy it is that Jesus came on Christmas as Gods gift to ALL the world. ALL who believe in Gods greatest gift of Jesus can truthfully say that Christmas is “The most wonderful time of the year!”
Prayer: Father, thank you for sending your Son Jesus on Christmas to provide the way to heaven for me! Help me to love You more and more every day and to express that love to others by sharing your greatest gift this Christmas.