A Five Minute Devotional
During the 2020 Christmas Season, Calvary Chapel Rosarito provided devotionals every weekday under the heading of Today’s Good News – Christmas Edition. The video shown below is the devotional from Wednesday, December 9th, 2020. The full text of the devotional follows the video.
WELCOME
Merry Christmas! My name is Gary Wiram and it’s my pleasure to welcome you to Today’s Glad Tidings.
INTRODUCTION
Glad Tidings. Now there’s a phrase you don’t hear much. It’s an Old English phrase that was common in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although you will find it used in the King James Version of the Bible, in my lifetime, I’ve mostly heard it used in connection with Christmas. Since its meaning fits right into today’s lesson, we will be taking a closer look at that. First, let me tell you a story about missing the mark with the meaning of Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, a man went out to buy his wife a gift for the next day. Being short of money, he was unsure about what to buy. He decided to try the cosmetics area in a department store. He asked the salesgirl there, ‘How about some perfume?’ She showed him a bottle costing $150. ‘Too expensive,’ he complained. So, she returned with a smaller bottle for $100. ‘Still far too much’, he growled. Then, becoming annoyed at the man’s attitude, she offered him a tiny $20 bottle. He became really agitated. ‘What I mean’, he snarled, ‘is I’d like to see something really cheap.’ So the sales girl handed him a mirror.
GOOD NEWS
The meaning of the phrase “Glad Tidings” is “Good News”. Although the story of this cheap man is amusing, it’s actually pretty sad when you consider how lost that message has become in the way many celebrate Christmas.
Our Scripture for today is Matthew 1:22-23. Please open your Bibles to these verses. Let’s read them and consider them together. – “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’”
This Scripture References Isaiah 7:14, that says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” And this Scripture concludes by telling us that “Immanuel” translated is “God with us.”
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
But wait a minute, don’t we see God being with people throughout the Old Testament after the fall of man? He spoke to Noah about the ark. He spoke to Moses from the burning bush. When Israel was wandering in the wilderness, God went before them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Why is this “God with us” such a big deal?
To help understand this, let me share a personal story with you. In my favorite job ever, my mentor was a VP based on the East Coast. I benefited from lessons he would share with the company through various media. I gained more from him through phone meetings that we both joined in. But it was most meaningful for me when he visited the West Coast. His spending time with me in my office, with my clients and prospects, riding together, dining together, etc, was, by far, the most helpful and the most rewarding for me.
My gaining from my mentor through knowing that he was there for me and even hearing from him, wasn’t enough for me. I needed to connect with him person-to person. In the Old Testament, we hear man crying out for that level of relationship with God time and time again. One of the best examples is found in Job 9:32-33 when Job laments the impossibility of his being able to commune directly with God. He says, “For (God) is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.”
God’s response to this, our lonely cry, was to reach down to earth, in the flesh of Christ, to be with us, to assure us that we are not alone. Whether we’re suffering through: unemployment, a death, divorce, bankruptcy, poverty, illness, etc, “Immanuel” means that God is with us in such situations; understanding our pain, our anger, our fear, etc. “Immanuel” means that understanding these things, God surrounds us with His love, His presence, and His Spirit.
That answers the question, “Why is this ‘God with us’ such a big deal?” And, it gets us back to the story of the man who was missing the mark with the meaning of Christmas in shopping for some cheap perfume for his Wife. If I were asked to sum up the rich meaning of Christmas in one word, it would be “Immanuel.” It captures the mystery and the miracle that is Christmas. The Almighty God, who crafted the galaxies with His bare hands, the Eternal Word, Who always was and always will be, came to Earth in the form of a helpless baby. For God, it was not enough for Him to remain in Heaven and love us from a distance. No, He sent His Son to walk with us, talk with us, teach us about Himself, and show us His great love in a personal and intimate way.
HIS GRACIOUS GIFT
Immanuel. God with us. What an incredible gift?! What a marvelous Christmas gift?! That is the meaning to have in mind when we say “Merry Christmas”!
So, let me say to you all, Merry Christmas. And for us all, that is Today’s Glad Tidings!
