Christmas Devotional - December 26

December 26 Emmanuel

“Our Lord Emmanuel”

Pray

What can I give You, Lord, in response to Your awesome love? Nothing less, nothing else will do; I give You my heart. Amen.

Read – Matthew 1:23/Isaiah 7:14

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us."

Reflect

As the prophet Isaiah foretold, God’s promise would bear fruit one day in the birth of a very special child. That child would be “wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. He would also be “Immanuel,” which means “God with us”. This is the amazing news that Paul would later celebrate in his letter to the Philippians – the Savior who, though He was in His very nature God, did not consider equality with God something that He had to hold on to tightly. Instead, He humbled Himself, taking the form of a man and the nature of a servant and becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

This is the Christ we find nestled in Mary’s arms, wrapped in swaddling clothes. The child that Mary bore was everything that the prophet had promised. In Jesus, God made His dwelling place among His people.

In case we are tempted to leave Christ in the stable, we should read the rest of the ancient hymn, which Paul quotes in Philippians chapter two. Paul reminds us that, since Christ was prepared to humble Himself in order to follow the Father’s will, God has now exalted Him, giving Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So, let us bow before the manger in reverence, awe, and love; then, let us rise to follow Him.