Adore Him: One Star One Hope Sample

THE EXTRAVAGANT LOVE OF OUR FATHER GOD GIVES ALL FOR THOSE IN HIS CARE.

ADVENT WEEK 4 

LOVE is the ingredient that makes a life worth living. We all are designed to love and be loved and to know we are treasured and valued. The most healthy families are those in which people can be themselves – and be loved anyway! But love in a home only works when people have learned how to sacrifice their preferences for the sake of others in the family. 

Joseph was a man who understood extreme sacrifice. Like the father in the famous story of the Prodigal Son (prodigal means “wastefully extravagant”), Joseph’s heart was full of extravagant, sacrificial love for his little family. 

The prodigal son story should actually be called the story of the “Prodigal Father!” A father who loves this deeply is ready to be wastefully extravagant with his care to see another grow strong and full of Hope. 

Joseph, like most fathers, was willing to waste his life to see his precious Mary and baby be safe. When he was first confronted with Mary’s pregnancy, he was dumbfounded. He was going to separate from her quietly to give her any dignity he could. Then, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and he became convinced that God’s lavish love was behind Mary’s wild story. Joseph wanted in. He risked everything that mattered in that day – his reputation, his business partnerships, his family relationships, and his standing in his faith community – to take the heat and keep Mary as his wife. 

Like our Father God, Joseph stayed consistent and unchanging in his off-the-charts love. He led Mary and his child on a long journey, made a warm, makeshift bed in a humble stable, and carefully parented the Son of God, Jesus, to adulthood. Your entire life, God’s extravagant love will follow you. 

Apply This In Your Life 

Can you see the heart of your Father God in the life of Joseph? His love for you is so extravagant, so caught up in who you are, that he is willing to do anything to see you become who he has made you to be. Say yes to God’s love for you today, and build your life on the foundation of his care. 

A Closing Prayer 

Holy Spirit, show me how much I am loved this Christmas. Let your “perfect love drive out fear” as the Bible says, and lead me to the fires of your great love for me.