JESUS AS THE CENTER
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
Luke 2:11 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
I read the other day about a department store that put a Nativity scene in one of its display windows one Christmas. As a window-shopping couple walked by, the gentleman said to his wife, “Look there! The church is trying to take over Christmas now!” What a sad statement about the present state of our culture. Somehow we have allowed our culture to turn Christmas into a time of gifts and parties. We celebrate the birth of Jesus by going into debt on our credit cards. Then we attend parties, and some make fools of themselves as they celebrate the birth of God on earth. I’m not against gifts. Cindy and I do our share of buying gifts for friends and family. But we set a budget and usually start very early, so we don’t have credit card bills after Christmas. (In a moment of honesty, I should confess I buy very few Christmas gifts, Cindy has the gift of shopping.) Cindy and I also attend a variety of parties. As I wrote this devotion, we were comparing calendars looking at the various functions we will attend over the next couple of weeks. This is a great time to get together with friends and family. We love these moments to be together. My concern is that in all we do this season we keep Jesus as the center. We give ourselves time to reflect on what it means that the Savior of the world is born. Light has come into our darkness.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit help me to remember Your light has come through Jesus. Jesus, thank-you for coming to live in and change our world for the better.
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