Devotional Text

Pastor Lee Weber’s devotional for Dec. 8, 2021

Wow! It’s incredible the pressure that comes on us this time of year! To make matters worse, the commercial ads we see set up standards of perfection that are rarely reachable. The ads display perfect people, acting perfectly, in perfect settings. It sets us up for hopes and expectations of how things will be during our holiday activities, which often don’t match reality. Christmas can be a tough time.

Have you ever felt like you failed to do the holiday right because things didn’t go as perfectly as you had hoped? How did this make you feel?

The Old Testament prophet, Malachi, indicted the Jewish people for failing to measure up to God’s expectations. He issued warnings of dire things to come because they did not keep the ways God had set forth for them. The people had put their focus on things that did not bring them closer to God.

What do you think most people put their focus on during the Christmas holidays? Do you feel that centering on the coming of Jesus is the most important focus? Why or why not?

In the New Testament we encounter John the Baptist, who is out in the wilderness preaching that the people need to be baptized and repent of their sins. He calls the people to examine their hearts and to do the things that will help them prepare to welcome into their hearts the coming Lord. This involved repentance and choosing to bear good fruit by doing the right things in life. He made clear that people must live by what God sets as important.

Why is it important to discover what God is calling important for us?

Pastor Weber described Christmas as a tough time for us. The world calls us to focus on the externals of Christmas. It is difficult to find the time to focus within and know what the real values and meaning of Christmas are. Without thinking, we get wrapped up in the surface things and find ourselves in danger of missing the real meaning of Christ’s coming.

What do you believe is the real meaning of Christmas? How do we get past the trappings of the holidays and get our lives focused on this real meaning?
Finally, Pastor Weber gave us a list of some simple ways to focus on the love and joy of Christmas, such as:

While decorating the house or the tree, giving thanks to God for the gift of love come down at Christmas!

As we’re wrapping presents, thanking God for wrapping us in forgiving love!

As we deal with overworked and frazzled store clerks, remembering that they too are God’s beloved children!

As we remember others with cards and gifts, celebrating that God is with us, now and forever!

What do you think it would take to redirect our focus to the real meaning of Christmas?