Perfect Gift
An Advent devotional to kick off your week
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”
Isaiah 61:1 NIV
Leading up to Christmas, many children suddenly drop poor behavior and become wonderfully-behaved little kids all because of a simple threat: coal. Fighting and bickering slows, bad attitudes turn around. Nobody wants to experience Christmas morning without gorgeous presents under their tree.
The powerful thing is that loving parents don’t actually give their children handfuls of soot (even if their behavior warrants it).
The Israelites weren’t too unlike kids who act out in ways that technically warrant receiving coal for Christmas. They fought, disagreed, turned to false idols and disobeyed.
As God’s children today, we still act out in these ways. When sin gets the best of us, we ignore God and hurt others. Our actions don’t line up with how He’s called us to live.
Yet during advent, we celebrate the birth of Christ—a gift always ready for us to unwrap. Jesus means we’ll never get “coal.”
As the children of God, we don’t get what we deserve, but we receive Jesus Christ. He is a gift that will never end, no matter how many times we mess up and regardless of our bad behavior. He is a gift that sets us free.
Breath Prayer
Inhale: Thank you for sending…
Exhale: … the perfect gift: Jesus.
Loved this!
The title of my newsletter is “Everyday Parables.” I publish a different post each Monday. Much like your Advent Devotional, each of my posts features an event in my life that illustrates one or more Bible teachings. I look forward to reading your posts as a means of growing spiritually while also finding ways of improving my posts.