Theme:   Five Things I Don't Want to Miss this Christmas

This eDevotional was written by a volunteer from Timberlake Church. 

Read:  Exodus 12:14; Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

Think: This year I celebrated my fortieth birthday. Now when I say celebrated I mean really celebrated more than I have a birthday before. This is mostly because on many other birthdays something has gone wrong, an especially bad day at work, being alone for the day or a relative dying. I came to expect the day to just pass by and if something didn’t go wrong it was a good day.

This year it felt like a huge milestone and I decided to celebrate the special people and relationships God had put in my life. I spent time with close family who live far away and crossed a few things off of my bucket list. I think one of my favorite times though was when I invited my Christian friends over and made them lunch. We spent time chatting and eating and I got the opportunity to let them know how much I appreciate that God has put them in my life. This birthday I chose to celebrate rather than just try to get through it and it made a huge difference in the way I felt.

Taking the time to appreciate what God had done for me not only helped me enjoy my birthday but the rest of my life. Just as Pastor Nick taught us, throughout the calendar there are many festivals and times of celebration during which we remember what God has done for us. Passover is the time when the Israelites remembered being brought out of Egypt and not affected by the last plague, Easter is the time we remember being freed from our lives of sin and brought into a relationship with God through Jesus and what He did for us. It is important that we have times when we are reminded of what God has done.

In the same way Christmas is our season to celebrate a birthday and what it means God has done in our lives, the coming of Jesus who will bring us into true fellowship and relationship to God.

Do: In all the stress of preparation and planning this year be sure to slow down and make the time to really appreciate and enjoy what this time means and what God has given you.

Pray: Lord we thank you not only for what you have given us in our lives but for time to remember and appreciate it. Please help us be grateful of your blessings in our lives as we come into this time to celebrate Your son’s birthday. Amen.