We are approaching the most meaningful time of year. The days leading up to Christmas, the weeks of the Advent season, are blessed opportunities to remember how God loves us and reflect on how Love appears in our lives.
The birth of Jesus is Heaven’s sweetest miracle. God became like us, to cry like a baby and suffer as an adult, in order to better understand the healing graces that save us. Though Jesus was formed of the Holy Spirit, God miraculously chose to work in relationship with humans to make this possible.
Jesus was raised, nurtured, and taught by His parents, Mary and Joseph. And in them we can witness traits that are cherished and valued by God: Mary’s humility, courage, and introspection and Joseph’s righteousness, trust, and obedience.
So as we watch and wait expectantly this season, we can also prepare meaningfully to welcome Christ anew in our hearts and make room for His faithfulness, loving devotion, and hope.
Faithfulness
Jesus’ birth takes on profound meaning when considered in the context of how Jesus later described it: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”1
God spoke us into the womb and called us by name, yet we turned our backs to His love, disobeyed, and chased worthless idols. Despite our rejection, God left His kingdom, as a shepherd leaves His flock, to come after us.
Faithfulness is a choice – a determined decision – to remain steadfast, to love always, and to forgive faults. God watched from heaven and saw there was no one to help us, so He became our Savior and salvation.2
Loving Devotion
God does not sympathize from afar and take pity.3 He comes close, an act of compassion and selfless charity. By divine mercy, Love became real – a child to hold, a voice to follow home.
Our worth stems from the One whose birth and death testify that we are worthy of redemption. And our testimonies ensure knowledge of God’s loving devotion endures for many generations.
Hope
Why look for the living among the dead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?4
The angels who announced Christ’s resurrection echoed the prophet who admonished us to prepare and follow His way. In a world fraught with people who speak boldly but not according to the dawn of truth, we rise up, look forward, and believe because the Light of God’s Word became flesh.
Our hope has dawned.
For unto us a Child is born,
Isaiah 9:6
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
