Advent Devotionals

Advent Devotional

Day 7

Erik Segalini

Winter Wonderland

Remember the last line of this song? “We’ll face unafraid, the plans that we made, walking in a winter wonderland.”

A Christian can replace the word “we” with the word “God,” so “we’ll face unafraid the plans that God made, walking in a winter wonderland.” You may not be in a winter wonderland, but one thing is sure: God has a plan for you. “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’ ”(Jeremiah 29:11).

Throughout the Bible, God proposed His plan to individuals. He asked Noah to build a boat, Moses to lead the Israelites, Mary to birth Jesus, Paul to spread the gospel.

God’s plans can be frightening. The above examples all involved pain of some kind (ridicule, bodily discomfort, even death) and they all required a large, trusting faith.

The reward? An ordinary person, out of obedience to God, was used to bring about a supernatural plan of eternal significance. Sometimes they saw results, sometimes they did not. But results were not their motivation; they were motivated by obedience. And it is God who supplies our faith – we need only ask for it.

According to the Christmas story in Luke, Mary learned from an angel that she would give birth to the Son of God while remaining a virgin. She responded like this: “Behold, the bond slave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

We all like the idea of God’s good plan. But in response to His plan, are you willing to lay down your life as a bond slave to God?

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