Anne Neilson's Christmas Angels: A 5-Day Plan to Focus Your Heart for ChristmasSample

Come and Adore Him

Come, let us bow down in worship,

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Psalm 95:6

God specifically chose Bethlehem as the setting for His Son’s birth, which required Joseph and Mary to make quite the trip to this village. They couldn’t make lodging arrangements online or with a quick phone call. Instead, their journey’s end was uncertain, ultimately landing them among hay in the company of barnyard animals.

Following the birth of Christ, the shepherds and wise men were instructed to follow a star to go and see the Son of God. For the shepherds, that meant abandoning their day-to-day duties and their woolly charges. For the magi, it meant traveling for nearly three years and escaping an evil king.

But despite the inconveniences and long journeys and lowly accommodations, much more was to be gained. When they saw the baby who was meant to rule heaven and earth, the magnificence of the Messiah made all hardships fade away.

We live in a world of convenience. I have the entire Bible stored on an app on my phone. I have access to nearly any sermon thanks to the internet. There are dozens of churches in my hometown of Charlotte. I don’t have to travel to get to Jesus. I don’t have to fix my sights on a distant star and follow it wherever it goes. But perhaps that ease has also bred complacency. I don’t always feel the urgency of Christmas.

My prayer for myself, for my family, and for you this season is that we would come adore Him, that we would travel in our hearts to the place where He’s dwelling, that we would worship Him with the intensity and urgency the shepherds and wise men had. My prayer is that we would seek and find the joy of Jesus.

Lord,

I am grateful for all the conveniences of this life, but today, I pause and reflect on the night Jesus was born. The joy. The wonder. The sounds. The scene. Quiet my heart as You take me back to that holy night. O Lord, fill my heart with the joy the shepherds had seeing the baby, the joy Mary had holding her precious Son. Fill me until I am overflowing with Your perfect joy. Thank You for the miraculous gift of joy.

In the name of Jesus,

Amen.