December 23, 2024 7:00 pm
My husband and I have always enjoyed attending the Christmas Eve service at our church. In the early years of our marriage, we had a special tradition of bundling up in warm clothing after the service to hike up a nearby hill where 350 glowing lights were strung from tall poles in the shape of a star. There—often in the snow—we’d whisper our reflections on Jesus’ miraculous birth while we gazed out over the city. Meanwhile, many people in the town were looking up at the bright, string-light star from the valley below.
That star is a reminder of the birth of our Savior. The Bible tells of magi “from the east” who arrived in Jerusalem seeking “the one who [had] been born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:1-2). They’d been watching the skies and had seen the star “when it rose” (v. 2). Their journey took them onward from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the star going “ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was” (v. 9). There, they “bowed down and worshiped him” (v. 11).
Christ is the source of light in our lives both figuratively (as the one who guides us) and literally as the one who created the sun, moon, and stars in the sky (Colossians 1:15-16). Like the magi who “were overjoyed” when they saw His star (Matthew 2:10), our greatest delight is in knowing Him as the Savior who came down from the heavens to dwell among us. “We have seen his glory” (John 1:14)!
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Welcome to this Christmas Eve edition of the Our Daily Bread Devotional. I'm Kirsten Holmberg, and I called today's reading The Light of Christ.
My husband and I have always enjoyed attending the Christmas Eve service at our church. In the early years of our marriage, we had a special tradition of bundling up in warm clothing after the service to hike up a nearby hill where 350 glowing lights were strung from tall poles in the shape of a star. There, often in the snow, we'd whisper our reflections on Jesus' miraculous birth while we gazed out over the city. Meanwhile, many people in the town were looking up at the bright, string-light star from the valley below. That star is a reminder of the birth of our Savior. The Bible tells of Magi from the east who arrived in Jerusalem seeking the One who had been born King of the Jews. They'd been watching the skies and had seen the star when it rose.
Their journey took them onward from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the star going ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. There, they bowed down and worshiped Him. Christ is the source of light in our lives, both figuratively as the One who guides us and literally as the One who created the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. Like the Magi who were overjoyed when they saw His star, our greatest delight is in knowing Him as the Savior who came down from the heavens to dwell among us. We have seen His glory.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Matthew chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 and 9 through 12. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where's the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.
Now picking up at verse 9. After they had heard the King, they went on their way. And the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Let's pray. Thank you, Jesus, for coming down from the heavens to dwell among us and to restore us to life with you. We thank you for being the light of our life. It's in your name that we pray.
Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Kirsten Holmberg, and on behalf of the entire Our Daily Bread family, I want to wish you and your loved ones a very merry and blessed Christmas. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-12-23 20:11:48 / 2024-12-23 20:13:34 / 2