Journey to Bethlehem Day 13

Friday, December 13 Romans 15:8-13

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”
10 And again it is said,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

When I was a child, I used to canvas the presents under the tree before Christmas to see which ones were for me. We didn’t have a lot of money, so there weren’t a lot of presents, but to even find one with my name on it just filled my little heart with delight. It was for me!
We should have the same delight in Paul’s message to us: the gift of salvation from God through Jesus Christ His Son is for all of us – you, me, everyone. Jesus is God’s gift of hope to us. And how are we to respond to His incredible gift? With delight! We glorify Him for His mercy; we praise His name and sing to His great name; we rejoice together, and we praise the Lord and extol Him as we wait in joyful hope for Jesus to come again to reign over all.
Paul is telling us: Welcome to the family! For all who receive Jesus, who believe in His name, He gave the right – Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised – to become children of God (John 1:12). That was God’s plan all along, from the beginning, that we may glorify Him for His mercy.
There is no need for you to canvas the presents under your Christmas tree to find the ones for you, for God has already given you the best gift of all in His Son Jesus. That’s what Christmas is all about. Jesus is the reason we celebrate. He is the reason we rejoice.

Most merciful God, we will praise You forever as we delight and hope in Your glorious name.