Two Christmas Devotionals from the Advent Devotional Series

Ready for Christmas?
by Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2 NIV).

Friend to Friend
It seems like everywhere you go during the month of December people ask the same question.  At the grocery checkout counter - "Are you ready for Christmas?"  At the bank drive through window - "Are you ready for Christmas?"  At the doctor's office - "Are you ready for Christmas?"

I think the answer to that question depends on how you define "ready." Let me ask you this question:  "Are you ready for Jesus?"  Now that puts the idea of being ready in a completely different Christmas light, doesn't it?

John the Baptist was sent by God to get the people ready to meet Jesus. Here's what Matthew had to say about him:

In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

"A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight paths for him.'"…"People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.  Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River" (Matthew 3:1-3, 5-6).

We don't like the words "repent" or "repentance" very much.  They mean "to make a radical change in one's life, to turn and go in the opposite direction from sin (another word we're not too fond of today) to God".  Repentance involves an element of grief over the way we have lived apart from God and a decision to run toward the Father. That was God's idea of the way to prepare for Christ's arrival in the book of Matthew, and it is still God's idea of preparing to worship Him today. Now that's what I call getting ready for Christmas!

Let's reflect for a moment on the words to this poem and then answer the question, "Are you ready for Christmas?"

"Ready for Christmas," she said with a sigh
As she gave a last touch to the gifts piled high…
Then wearily sat for a moment AND READ
Til soon, very soon, she was nodding her head.
Then quietly spoke a voice in her dream,
"Ready for Christmas, what do you mean?"
She woke with a start and a cry of despair.
"There's so little time and I've still to prepare.
Oh, Father!  Forgive me, I see what You mean!
Yes, more than the giving of gifts and a tree.
It's the heart swept clean that He wanted to see,
A heart that is free from bitterness and sin.
So be ready for Christmas - and ready for Him.

Let's Pray
Dear Lord, I want to be ready for Jesus today and every day.  I come to You now in repentance for my sins: my sin of selfishness, stubbornness, and rebellion.  I turn from my self-centeredness today and commit to keep my focus on You.  God, I cannot do this on my own.  I am not able.  So I ask that You fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

Now It's Your Turn
What do you think it means to be "ready for Christmas?"

What do you think it means to be ready for Jesus?

Go back and read the parable of the ten virgins in Matthews 25:1-13. Notice the difference between the five who were ready and the five who were not.  Which group more resembles your readiness for Christ?


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The Origin of Christmas
from Senior Living Ministries

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. -- Luke 2:11

When Pope Julius I declared December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in A.D. 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today? And when Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in American in 1832, who would have ever thought that decorations would become as glamorous as they are today?

Even before these two events that shaped what Christmas means today for most, there was a bright, special star that lit the dark night thousands of years ago letting the world know that Jesus the King was born. Usually, we don't celebrate historical figures as children, but in the case of Christ, it is appropriate.

When Christ was born, shepherds came to honor Him, wise men from the East brought Him gifts, and the earth rejoiced at His birth. These people who came to worship Him had no idea what Christ would accomplish as an adult. But they were right in traveling to worship the King because His birth was the most remarkable event in human history. Wise men and women today worship not only the Child of Bethlehem, but the Christ of Calvary.

As we approach the holiday season again, we are faced with yet another opportunity to pause in the midst of all the excitement, decorations, and commercialization, to consider again the origin of Christmas--the One whose birth we celebrate. Let's not forget the true meaning of why we celebrate during this time of year. Celebrate the baby Jesus and trust Him as Savior today.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God for sending His Son that glorious night to be born of a virgin, live a perfect life, die on the cross for your sins, and rise from the dead three days later to give you eternal life through Him.