The Twelve Days of Christmasنموونە

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . two turtledoves.

These twin birds represent the Old and New Testaments. So in this gift, the singer finds the complete story of the Christian faith and God’s plan for the world. The doves are the biblical roadmap that is available to everyone.

The two turtledoves of the second day of Christmas remind us of the great importance of every word, every book and every part of the Bible.  They remind us that the Old Testament is not old and out of date, but rather has just as much relevance and importance as the New Testament.  Jesus himself very clearly shows us the importance of and relationship between the 2 testaments of the Bible: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17).

For a Christian, the Old Testament has a number of important roles.  Firstly, the Old Testament clearly points to and keeps reminding people that God made a promise to send a Savior and that God would keep that promise to send a Savior.  Think for a moment of how long the people in the Old Testament had to wait for the fulfillment of the promise of the Savior which was made in the Garden of Eden – hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.  How well would you do having to wait year after year for something to happen? That is why God kept reminding and focusing his people on the coming Savior.

Secondly, the Old Testament contains many wonderful promises which are still encouragements to God’s people today.  Think of some of those promises which are an encouragement to you in your faith life and you see the value and relevance of the Old Testament still today.

While we know how the New Testament reveals to us the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promise of the Savior, it has much more value and worth to us.  Think of the lives of New Testament Christians which are paraded before us to show us their lives of faith and how they can be an encouragement and example to us. Just like the many promises and encouragements which we are given in the Old Testament, think of the many precious promises of our God which are shared on the pages of the New Testament!

All of that from two turtledoves which keep before us the value and meaning of both testaments of the Bible.

Prayer: Heavenly Father – thank you for giving me your Word, the Bible.  Thank you for all that you reveal to me and share in both the Old and New Testaments!  Continue to give me a high regard for your Word that I read, learn and study it for the growth and strengthening of my faith.  Amen.