All to Jesus: A Year of Devotions. Robert J Morgan Day 356 Luke 2: 36-38
She came up and began to thank God and to speak about Him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:28
During medieval days, December 25 was a pagan holiday with religious overtones. It fell in the dark and cold of winter, just as Europeans needed an outlet for their frustrations and appetites. It was common for mobs to storm the wealthy homes demanding food and drink: “O bring us some figgy pudding…. We won’t go until some…” In London, Christmas was a day when women and children didn’t leave their homes, a day of drunkenness, rioting, and indulgence.
But one place on the globe changed the way Christmas was celebrated everywhere – Martin Luther’s Germany. Luther loved Christmas, and in sparking the reformation, he took full advantage of the story of Christ’s birth. Germany responded with a plethora of wholesome holiday traditions.
Centuries later, Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Germany, who brought all the hallowed celebrations with him to Windsor Castle. Christmas there became a wonderful time of beautiful trees, gift-giving, songs, and worship. These traditions were picked up and practiced across England, and Christmas began to take shape as we know it today.
Anna of Jerusalem had the right idea all along. When baby Jesus was brought to the temple, she began to thank God and speak about Him to everyone, giving us a cue as to Christmas should be observed. Among the traditions, you celebrate this year, don’t forget the oldest ones – thank God for His Son and speak about Him to everyone!
Robert J Morgan is pastor of The Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, TN, where he has served more than 30 years. He has written numerous books, including this 2008 book All to Jesus: A Year of Devotions, Then Sings My Soul, The Red Sea Rules, and 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart. Rob is a creative storyteller with a pastor’s heart. He and his wife have three daughters and ten grandchildren. I found my copy for $1.00 at MCC Connections. Seek & ye shall find! For the next five days, I’ll post five of his concluding devotionals. Today is the only 2 in 1 day! Blessings.
Day 359 Greatest “Funnel” App Ever Conceived! Luke 2:19-24
“But Mary was treasuring up ALL these things in her heart and meditating on them.” Luke 2:19
In my kitchen I have a funnel, and from time to time I pull it out of the drawer and use it when I need to pour liquid – oil or vinegar or honey – from a large container into a smaller one. I don’t use it often, but I’m thankful for it when I need it.
Though crude but yet quite profound, think of Christmas as a massive funnel.
Above all the universe is the immensity and eternity of God Himself – His perfect holiness, His illimitable glory, His endless infinity, His matchless wisdom, His unfailing love, His omnipresence, and omnipotence and omniscience. He fills the universe to the edges of reality and beyond and dwells in approachable light.
Yet in the womb of Mary, the eternal God – God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity – was ALL funneled into the human race, and God became flesh and dwelt among us.
So, who better than Mary to show us how to celebrate Christmas? Such celestial details are too much for our culture burdened minds to readily absorb, so we like Mary, have to treasure these truths in our hearts and meditate on all of them annually, including the: Birth, Trial, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Asension, (& especially our Transformation), and then in the Father’s timing, His Return! That’s the essence of worship and that’s the joy of Christmas!
“Most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great: He was manifested in the flesh.” I Timothy 3:16