The Gift: Advent Bible PlanSample

Thanking You

“Stayin up ‘til morning breaks

Ain’t no such thing as too late

All this stress from my 9 to 5

Won’t let it phase me when it’s Christmas time

Anybody told ya

Nothing matters like it’s supposed to

No heartbreak, no mistakes, no wrong

Ima celebrate my favorite birthday

And even if I had the worst day

I know that there’s better to come”

While we find ourselves celebrating the birth of a Savior, this time also coincides with the end of the year. This is a time often met with reflection of the last 365 days–what we accomplished, what we didn’t, the places we visited, the people we met, the memories we created.

May our times of reflection be filled with remembrance of what God did, not only in our individual lives, but collectively in our communities and in our world. Reflect on his goodness and in the beauty of his very being. We often fail to do this well because we live in a commercialized world where we value production and consumption more-so than we do rest and worship. The stress of the holidays–Christmas parties, gift shopping, end of year deadlines, and the demands of our society- tend to cloud us from the beauties of being sons and daughters of a King like Jesus.

When we take time to reflect on His goodness and faithfulness and respond in gratitude, there is a supernatural joy that we’re met with because part of the fulfillment of the promise of the coming Christ was that joy and gladness would come as well. Isaiah 35:10 declares that joy comes and sorrow and sighing flee away.

Take part in this exchange today.

Prayer: Lord, let not the mundane things of this life fill my every thought. Instead, Father, I thank you for coming down to be the ultimate sacrifice in exchange for my salvation. Thank you for the ways in which you’ve been faithful, and help me fix my eyes on that today and rest in your goodness.