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[expand title=”Devotion Text”]Luke 1:29-33
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Gabriel’s surprise appearance startled Mary. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to have an angel suddenly appear. The angel comforted Mary: “Do not be afraid…you have found favor with God.” But his next statement caused Mary amazement and confusion.
“You will conceive….” You can almost picture Mary’s puzzled look. She had never known a man, so having a baby was not possible. Gabriel didn’t stop to explain. He told Mary to name the baby Jesus, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. In both languages, the name means “the Lord saves.”
“The Lord saves.” That’s exactly what Jesus was sent to do. He would do great and powerful things. He would be God in the flesh, “the Son of the Most High.” He would rule as king and His kingdom would be an eternal one. But first He would die on the cross to save His people from their sins. One day Mary would stand at the foot of the cross and understand the awful price for our salvation.
Father, thank You for seeing my great need, for having compassion for me, and for sending Jesus, my Savior. In His name I pray. Amen.
For parents: Take the time to explain the purpose of Christmas, Jesus’ birth, to your children. Explain why God sent his Son. Depending on the age of your children, you may want to use different colors of construction paper (black to represent sin, red to represent Jesus’ death on the cross, white to represent how he washes our sins away, green to represent that we must grow as Christians, and gold to represent eternity in heaven). Our Living Grounded study includes a chapter that explains how to share the Gospel. For more information, email us at prayer@ronmoore.org.
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