GOD’S WORD—Romans 15:7
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
MEDITATION
Holiday decorating contests are underway, and I’m pretty sure our neighborhood is having one. (With a couple of outdoor wreaths and a Christmas tree in the window, our look is colorful, traditional, and restrained!) A couple houses down, the Grinch has reappeared in blow-up version (he sleeps on the ground during the day) with candy canes all around. Further down the street, the residents have strung up the new-fangled neon Christmas lights. Pretty cool!
Radiant outdoor displays do more than qualify for a prize. They point to the true Light, which enlightens us all, that is coming into the world! They exude a sense of welcome, of hearth, and of home. It’s as if the light welcomes the Light!
Christ, the Light of the world, welcomed us, first, as an infant. All through His growing years, He spoke out for and championed a child-like faith and trust in God. What joy it is to welcome one another in such a way this year – with a child-like faith in God that is put into practice with love. This sort of thing is the “decoration” worth keeping up all year long!
PRAYER
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son, so that by His advent we may be enabled to serve you with purified minds; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
VERSE
The Lord is just, a helper tried, with mercy ever at His side;
His kingly crown is holiness, His scepter, pity in distress,
The end of all our woe He brings; wherefore the earth is glad and sings:
We praise Thee, Savior, now, mighty in deed art Thou.
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