Advent - Love

We’re in the homestretch to celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ which will be demonstrated by mounds of wrapping paper and eating too much. We’ve celebrated the season of Advent together, writing on themes of hope, joy, peace and this week, love. This week, we have another treat –guest writers; enjoy.

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My Boy turns 5 on Christmas Eve; five in spiritual birthdays, that is. Five years ago, as we were driving home from Grandma and Grandpa’s house, my Boy made his own decision to allow Jesus to be his Saviour and Lord. Every year, as we give him a present to mark the occasion, I tell him if he never does anything more, he is loved and accepted by his Heavenly Father. If he learns nothing else in his life, I want him to know the love to which he has received.

I’ve been a Christian for 31 years and I still am learning about the Father’s love. Of course, I know the “Christian” answers and can quote appropriate Bible verses, such as Romans 8:38-39 or John 3:16 but I’ve only begun to grasp the love God has for me.

There is nothing I can do to increase his love – my works, self-sacrifices, gifts, abilities, and time spent with him will add nothing to his love. In the same way, the sins I’ve committed or have been committed to me will never decrease his love. The Father loves me no more or no less than Christopher Hitchens, the noted atheist who wrote a book called, God is Not Great.

God is love. It is not an act of his will, it is his character. You cannot separate the two. As a display of his love, God humbled himself - as a human being - so human beings could be exalted because there is no other way for us to be in relationship with him. Christmas is important because we celebrate how God came to earth. I am loved and the proof is of God’s promise is Christmas because Jesus entered our world as one of us.

Weekly Advent Bible Reading Plan:

Monday, December 19, 2011:  Isaiah 43:1-7
Tuesday, December 20, 2011:  Psalm 118
Wednesday, December 21, 2011:  Romans 8:31-39
Thursday, December 22, 2011:   1 John 4:7-21
Friday, December 23, 2011:  Isaiah 9:6-7