December 20 Devotion

Scripture -- Isaiah 53, Luke 2:1-14

The Greatest Gift

How simple yet how wonderful
That one day long ago
A Child was born on Christmas morn
Beneath a star's bright glow.
The gentle cattle and the sheep
Stood close beside His bed
While shepherds came to praise His name,
For here the star had led.
The One of whom the angels sang
Now lay within a stall
On lowly straw, yet shepherds saw
The greatest gift of all.
May we, like those who came to kneel
And worship at His feet,
Find love to keep, know peace so deep
It makes our lives complete.

 --Jean Conder Soule

The Real Meaning of Christmas

It's all about the Baby,
It's all about the One.
It's all about the Father
Who sent to Earth His Son.
It's not about the Christmas trees
Or presents by the score.
It's not about the parties
Or the snow piled high once more.
It's all about the Glory
God sent to earth that day --
A Baby, Christ our Savior,
Who sleeps upon the hay.
It's not about the season;
It's all about the Son.
Let's bow and give Him honor,
Jesus Christ, God's precious Son.

-- Mary Ann Jameson

My Special Christmas Guest

Christmas night years ago
I as all alone,
So I invited the Lord
To have dinner in my home.
I set my small table
With a feast enough for two.
I used the best I had --
For nothing less would do.
I waited and I waited,
Then a knock was at my door.
I shook with excitement
As I hurried across the floor.
An old woman stood before me,
Shivering in the snow.
Why she as out on such an night
Heaven would only know.
I brought her in by the fire
So that she could get warm.
When I covered her with a blanket,
She gently touched my arm.
I asked, "Why are you alone this night?
Do you have no one?"
She smiled a loving smile
And said, "I have an only Son."

— Dellene Kopplin Blackmore

From "Glory to the Newborn King," Salesian Missions, 2005

Prayer: Our Father, as we anticipate the joys and excitement of this season, help us to focus on Christ, the enfleshed Word. As revealed in the scriptures, God sent his Son to awaken us from complacency so that we might believe and be transformed in this world in preparation for eternal life. Amen

Chuck and Pam Gruber

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