Completing Christmas

We are preparing our hearts for Christmas in this devotion with Heather Hart.

Bible Verse for Today

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

John 1:10

Devotion for Today

Preparing Our Hearts for Christmas

Have you ever stopped to think about the waiting? That first Christmas so long ago was announced by angels. The shepherds came to kneel at the side of the manger, the wise men traveled from afar to bring gifts to the newborn king, and then… nothing.

All the shepherds who had kneeled in the hay went back to their fields. The wise men returned to the land from where they came. Joseph was visited by an angel in a dream and warned of coming trouble, so he and Mary took Jesus to hide in Egypt.

All the splendor that was displayed at the birth of our Savior faded, and life returned to normal. Did they forget that this child was the Christ? Did they ever wonder what became of Him?

As someone who grew up in church, I can relate all too well to the shepherds, and I have seen others do the same. We come face-to-face with Jesus, we experience Him like never before, and then we go back to the real world. We go home from church camp, or the conference we are at. We close our Bible and walk away, ready to face the day full of knowledge of our Savior, and the world is the same as it was before Jesus entered in.

We still have bills to pay and jobs to do. We still have responsibilities and hardships. Just like the shepherds so long ago, we know that the Savior has come, but life goes on.

But one thing that separates us from the shepherds is the Spirit of God. For them, Christmas was an event. A moment in time and they were left waiting for what was yet to come. We are on the other side. We know what came next.

As amazing as it would have been to be told by angels that Christ had come, we are even more blessed to know the whole story. We don’t just see Him as a baby lying in a manger, but as the King who died on the cross. We aren’t left waiting for more, we are filled with the Spirit of the living God.

Because of that first Christmas, we can look at everyday through the lens of the gospel. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”[1]  We can do that because we have the whole story. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul reminds us that Christ died for our sins, He was buried and raised on the third day just as the Scriptures said He would be.[2] That’s a life changing revelation that the shepherds only had hope would be fulfilled.

We can look at life and know Jesus came and died that we may have life to the fullest,[3] and that comes from knowing Him. The shepherds came to worship Him, because He is the Good Shepherd,[4] and we are His sheep. We can live every day with the knowledge that we are loved by God and that He cares for us.

Christmas is coming, and while that first Christmas introduced the world to the Savior, Christmas was made complete in the fullness of Jesus, from the manger to the cross, from birth to resurrection. Jesus didn’t stay a babe in a manger, He sits on His throne in Heaven above, and His Spirit fills our hearts.

This Christmas is coming, because Christmas already came. We can anticipate what’s coming but we don’t have to wait for our Savior because He is already here.

Jesus didn’t stay a babe in a manger, He sits on His throne in Heaven above, and His Spirit fills our hearts. Share on X

[1] 1 Corinthians 2:2

[2] 1 Corinthians 15:3-5

[3] John 10:10

[4] John 10:11

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