O Come , King of Nations
Isaiah 9:6
Thursday — December 22nd
Every year growing up my parents would buy one of those Advent calendars that had chocolates inside of it . At the end of each day , one of us kids would open the appropriate door and savor the chocolate inside ( even if it tasted a little bit like cardboard ). That calendar was important to us because it meant Christmas was coming soon . With each calendar door ripped open , with each chocolate digested , the anticipation would grow . We wanted Christmas to come .
In Isaiah 9:6 , God speaks to his children and tells them , CHRISTmas is coming . God promises a child would be born , a Son would be given . You can call him Wonderful Counselor , Mighty God , Everlasting Father , Prince of Peace . For thousands of years , God ’ s children had been eagerly anticipating the Christ , the Messiah , the Savior . Here in Isaiah God tells them , he ’ s coming . Can you imagine the anticipation of God ’ s people ? They wanted the Christ to come .
But what ’ s the motivation behind this anticipation ? For my siblings and I , as I ’ m sure you can guess , the reason we were so excited for Christmas to come was we wanted presents . Many in Israel longed for the coming of the Messiah because they wanted him to restore their government to earthly supremacy . But that wasn ’ t God ’ s plan for the Christ . That wasn ’ t God ’ s plan for Christmas . Christmas is not about earthly presents . Christmas is not about an earthly kingdom . Christ came for a much more magnificent purpose . He came to be the King of Israel . He came to be the King of Nations . He came to be our Savior King .
As you gaze upon the Christ-child this Christmas , remember why he came . He came because he loves you . He loves you and gave up a throne in heaven for a crib in a manger so that he could put your sins upon his shoulders , make his way to a cross , make his way out of a tomb , and give you the sure hope and anticipation of an eternity in his Kingdom of Heaven . That is the exciting message of Christmas . For that gift we rightly pray , Come , O Lord !
PRAYER :
King of nations , as we anticipate the joy of Christmas , keep our eyes fixed on you and the reason you came to this earth . May we never forget you came to be our Savior King . Amen .
ACTIVITY : Watch the movie : “ The Nativity Story .”
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