Praying and Waiting for Christmas: A 7 Day Advent DevotionalSample

The Candle of Love or The Holy Family

We see them huddled in a crude stable; a carpenter and a young virgin, chosen by God to be the Messiah’s family. God’s first family had sinned, plunging all their descendants into darkness. Yet God promised a deliverer, the child who was about to be born. Would we choose such an unlikely couple for the task of announcing God’s love to the world?

God often chooses unlikely people as His family. The list of Christ’s ancestors includes Rahab, a prostitute; Tamar, an idol-worshipper; Ruth, a forbidden foreigner; and Bathsheba, an adulteress. God chose them, just as He chose us, to showcase His amazing love. “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family” (Ephesians 1:4-5).

Like the holy family, we are unlikely bearers of the news of God’s love. As we go about our lives, we’re to proclaim His love in every way we can. But how do we do that? Perhaps the way my friend Cathy did.

I went with her to a nursing home to visit her sister Muriel, who has Alzheimer’s. She sat slumped in a wheelchair, her eyes dead and lifeless. Cathy gathered Muriel into her arms for a long hug. And even though there was no response, Cathy took Muriel’s hands in hers and looked deeply into her eyes as she began talking to her, pouring out her love.

Slowly, a light came into Muriel’s eyes as she responded to Cathy’s love. She sat up a little straighter. A gentle smile lit her face. And the love I’d seen in Cathy’s eyes soon filled Muriel’s. She didn’t know Cathy’s name, but she knew someone loved her.

It was a holy moment. Like watching a winter-dead tree slowly bud and blossom. Muriel had lost the ability to think and remember, but her eternal soul understood love. And for a few precious moments, life filled her once again. I wanted to hug all the other patients and show them love so they could come alive, too. But, of course, I couldn’t.

Yet isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Aren’t we supposed to generously give away God’s love to everyone around us? Whether they respond or not? Whether they return it or not? I see people every day, going through life with blank eyes and hopeless expressions. What if I found a way to draw them close and tell them how much God loves them?

Jesus demonstrated His love to me when I was “dead.” And because of His love, I am adopted into His family. He longs for me to freely give His love away to others. Do you know someone who needs to be touched by His love?