JOY... Sunday

Devotional for 12/15/13

This is the third week of Advent, our preparation time before Christmas. Some people use an Advent wreath for the four weeks preceding Christmas with 4 candles around a central 5th candle. The 4 candles are usually 3 purple and 1 pink, and the central candle is white. The first week of Advent one purple candle is lit, and the second week 2 purple ones are lit.  But on this third week of Advent the pink one is lit.  Each candle has a meaning associated with it which varies a little with different traditions. The first one is the candle of Hope or the Prophecy candle, the second one is the candle of Preparation or Peace, or the Bethlehem candle. The pink one, lit on this third week of Advent, is the candle of Joy or the Shepherd candle. It symbolizes the rejoicing of the shepherds in the fields and our own rejoicing that God's promised Savior was born. The fourth one lit will be the candle of Love or the Angel candle, and the fifth candle which is lit on Christmas is the central white one, the Christ candle.

So this is the week we celebrate the joyful news the angels brought to the shepherds that a Savior was born.  We celebrate the elation in the shepherds hearts that they then shared with everyone they met.  We celebrate the gladness we now have in knowing and having faith in our Savior.  Not everything in life is joyful, but we can rest in the peace of knowing that Jesus came to earth in order to save us, and nothing can snatch us from his hands.  Nothing we have done in the past is too terrible for God to forgive.  Nothing this world can dish out against us is too devastating to take away our heavenly home.  We cannot be jubilant about everything that happens to and around us, but nothing can take away our internal joy as we remain faithful throughout it all and find ways to glorify God because of it.

On this third week of Advent then, let us focus on the joy we have in Christ, the Savior. Let us give thanks regardless of our circumstances. Let us look forward with anticipation at the celebration of his first coming to earth, and to his return at the second coming. What joy! 

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:8-11 (ESV)

written by Jan Andersen