A Personal Christmas

Prepare your heart for the holidays with this devotion by Heather Hart.

Bible Verse for Today

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”

Luke 1:30-31

Devotion for Today

Prepare Your Heart the Holidays

“Greetings, O favored one… don’t be afraid, you will have a child, the long-awaited messiah…”[1] These profound revelations from the angel, Gabriel, could have triggered any number of responses. The young teenage girl that the angel was speaking to responded in confident confusion.

Mary wasn’t dumbfounded by the angel, she wasn’t doubtful that God could do it, she didn’t ask why God had been silent for so long, she simply wanted to know how it would happen. And once Gabriel answered her, she responded with submission, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”[2]

This girl from Nazareth had seen a real-life angel. She knew about the coming Messiah before anyone else on Earth. It was a personal revelation, but isn’t Jesus always that way? Jesus is a personal Savior. He’s big on one-on-one relationships.

I grew up in the church. From the time I was small I remember being in church every Sunday and spending my summers at VBS and various church camps. I knew all the songs and Bible stories. But to me, God was a fact. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and Jesus was born in a manger, died on the cross, and loves all the little children of the world.

One summer, it all changed though. I was at a new church camp with my best friend and the speaker talked about having a personal relationship with Jesus. Like, you could know Jesus one-on-one. That revelation changed my life, and nothing has ever been the same.

I’ll be honest, Jesus and I have had our ups and downs. Isn’t that the way with friendships though? Sometimes you are inseparable, and other times you just struggle through your own mess, knowing they are there and waiting for you when you are ready to make time for them again. That’s how Jesus is.

When I first began my relationship with Jesus, we were inseparable. I looked at the whole world with new eyes. And then my life got messy. I clung to the promises of Scripture and the love of Christ, but I didn’t always take my problems to Him or spend time with Him each day. Even during that time though, I knew; I knew Jesus was there for me and loved me without question. And when my heart yearned for more of Him, He was waiting.

I don’t know what your relationship with Jesus looks like, but I hope it’s personal. I hope He is more to you than words on a page, or a fact of life. I pray that you know Jesus; that you really know Him.

God sent an angel to let Mary know about the special relationship she would have with Son of God. While He doesn’t send angels to each of us, we each have our own relationship with the Creator of the world. It is why we were created, and it is part of the joy of Christmas.

We don’t have a Savior who sits back and watches us from above. Jesus came on Christmas to live in the real world. He knows what we go through, because He has been there. He might not have lived in the 21^st century, but life back in the Bible times had its own share of drama (Remember the Pharisees, the Roman Empire, and the disciple who betrayed Him?).

The first Christmas was about Jesus coming into the world to live as we lived (only He did it perfectly because we never could), and this Christmas is about celebrating the Savior of the world. Christmas is coming, but our relationship with Jesus is here today. And that relationship changes everything.

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Christmas is coming, but our relationship with Jesus is here today. Share on X

[1] Luke 1

[2] Luke 1:38

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