Advent Devotions 2009 – 11/30/2009

I’ve not found time to get this blog going the way I’d like but since I had to write Advent devotions, I figured this would be a good way to get me into the habit 🙂

I wrote Advent devotions last year from my church and they were well received. So I decided to do them again this year. Back in August, I came up with the idea of doing them based on the themes in the song “Do You Hear What I Hear?“. There are 20 devotions, written for the Monday through Friday of Advent and for Christmas Day. If you would like them as a set (the way I gave them to my church), contact me and I will send you a PDF file with all 20 devotions.

I hope you enjoy them and that they add to your celebration of Advent and Christmas.

Be well,
Steve

Here’s the first one:

You’ve probably seen the K-Mart commercial where the wife is headed out to do Christmas shopping and the husband asks, “But didn’t we just carve pumpkins?”. That’s sort of how I feel but I hope that for the next few weeks, Monday through Friday, you’ll join me in these devotions as we think about the Christmas song, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and some selected Scriptures, carols, and other inspirational writings. May God’s blessing and favor be on us all! May we hear the Christmas story with all of our being and truly welcome the Christ Child!

November 30, 2009 – A Star, A Star

Scripture: Numbers 24:17 (KJV), Revelation 22:16 (ASV)
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel.

I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright, the Morning star.

Devotion
Stars – wonderful, twinkling points of bright light in a clear night sky. I’m fascinated by them and I love the fact that where we live we can see them shine so brightly without light “pollution” blocking out their light. I look for the constellations and other wonders that are in our heavens.

Ancients sometime worshiped these same stars. Both Old and New Testament writings allude to this. We may find this odd or amusing but we aren’t much different – though our stars are earth-bound. They can be found in Hollywood and on athletic fields and courts across our land. We call them by another name also – idols (American or otherwise). We consult the stars more often than we bow in prayer. We worry more about the number of stars on the rating of our restaurants and hotels than we do about whether our brothers and sisters have food and shelter,

But the star shining over Bethlehem, though full of wonder and light, was not the object of worship. It was God-given sign to follow, showing the way to the only One worthy of worship. The Psalmist tells us that God knows the stars by name and I’m sure He knew not only this star’s name but it’s role long before it appeared in the sky that first Christmas. Israel had waited long for this sign and for the most part, they missed it. Will we miss it too? Will our earthly idols keep our eyes from seeing the Star that comes out of Jacob?

O Bright and Morning Star, shine Your light into hearts and show us how best to be Your people. Protect us from harm and deliver us from the hand of the enemy. Let our worship only be for You. Amen