Note: This is the second in a series of Advent devotions called, “Make Room for Christmas.”
Mary said,
“With all my heart I glorify the Lord! ...
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.” — Luke 1:46, 51-53 CEB
At Christmas, we can lose focus on what is most important, thinking more about what we want than what we already have in Christ.
In the United States this year, Amazon.com released its first-ever, print, toy catalog for Christmas. It even included stickers to help family members highlight the items they most want this year.
We sometimes come to Christmas from a place of lack. We ask our kids what they want for Christmas and make wish lists of our own. We worry about having enough money to get everyone the gifts we’ve imagined they so desperately want.
We do all of this in celebration of the birth of Jesus, who had nearly nothing — not even a proper place to be born. Yet we proclaim this child to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Clearly there is more to Christmas than the gifts we exchange. It is the gift we receive in Christ.
The baby with “nothing” is the hope for the world.
What do you want for Christmas? Where do you sense lack? How will you refocus your attention on the hope found in Jesus Christ?
How will you make room for hope this Christmas?
Prayer: O God, refocus me on the hope I already have in Christ. Amen.
*Joe Iovino works for UMC.org at United Methodist Communications. Contact him by email or at 615-312-3733.
This devotion published December 3, 2018.
