Wednesday 24 Dec 2014

December 24: Luke 2:6-7

Key Verse: Luke 2:7
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Devotion:
What! You’re a day early! Well, we don’t actually know the time and date of Jesus birth, much the same as we don’t know the time and date of many things that have happened in our ancient history, but we still stick to them because that is the way we have always done it! I want to shake things up a little and stop us from just doing stuff but to stop and think about what we are about to do before we do it. So today we stop and think about what happened around 2015 years ago.

Mary and Joseph had been given a baby to raise by God. The angels had come to tell them of their task and they now knew this to be true. How they handled it with all the stress of family life and things would be much that same as people handle things nowadays – sometimes we just get on and do it because it has to be done.

No. I think they handled this differently. I think as time went on they began to see the gravity of their situation as the guardians of this little boy who is our Messiah, our King of Kings, our Saviour! I believe they would have gone through each day with a lot of prayer, especially as the time grew ever closer to His birth. I believe they would have made a difference and people would have noticed. But the people who did notice have not written about it in such a way that we all remember it to the minute detail, they have written it in their hearts.

Let us change the way we do Christmas this year and write it in our hearts. So today, as we get ready for the ‘big day’ tomorrow, let us reflect on how much God had done up to this point in time to make sure that our Saviour was delivered in exactly the right place, in the right time and on the right day. Think about all you have to do just to get ‘Christmas’ ready in your own homes, and think about how special a day it will be because of your work. Tomorrow is God’s great day. Remember it well and lift up your Saviour in praise!

Points to Ponder:
Are you ready for Christmas?

Are you ready for Christ?