Note: This devotion material was purchased digitally from YM360 to be used for the Advent Season of 2024.
Day Two: A Sign of Hope Through a Miraculous Birth
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Find a plant, either outside or in your home, or find a picture online. Bonus points if it’s a rose or a flower that’s already bloomed! What do you notice about it?
Here’s the thing: There is a lot that has already happened before a flower has bloomed. It takes time. It takes energy. It takes sunlight and water. And it takes time for the roots to grow deep into the ground. All of these things we likely don’t get to see, but they are crucial in the process of the flower’s creation. The flower wouldn’t bloom without them!
Just as a flower emerges from its roots after lots of time, Jesus was born from the “root” of Jesse in their family history after lots of generations, which was promised long before it actually happened. The hymn, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” helps us to remember that Jesus’ birth fulfilled the promise that God made!
It is an absolute miracle that God the Mighty Creator chose to give us hope by sending Jesus to Earth for us. What may seem like a boring genealogy, or family history, to us is actually God working throughout all of time to fulfill His word and rescue us.
Isaiah, who was a prophet, gave a prophecy about the Savior hundreds of years before the first Christmas that this Christmas hymn was written about. Isaiah wrote that the one God sent would be called “Immanuel” meaning “God with us”. What a story that God has been writing throughout time, all leading to the hope we find in Jesus. The best part? God invites you to be part of that story, too.
Questions:
1. How does it make you feel to know that Jesus came to be with you?
2. What’s one way you can choose to be part of His Kingdom today?