Joy To Your World - Children's Advent DevotionalSample

Everyone loves to hear good news, especially at Christmastime. The word gospel means “good news.” Those are important words in the Bible. Luke’s gospel tells the story of the shepherd’s experience with the angels. Their message from the Lord was, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).

The gospel message of Christmas is that the baby who was born in Bethlehem was the Messiah, the one who had come to save the world. The Jewish people had been waiting for their Messiah to come for hundreds of years. They were looking for a man who would be a conquering hero like King David, who had defeated the giant Goliath. Instead, the angels told the shepherds that the Messiah was a baby lying in a manger.

There are four words in the angel’s message that don’t seem surprising to us today but were amazing for those shepherds to hear. The angel said that the good news was “for all the people.” The angel told the shepherds that the Messiah had come for the shepherds too!

Shepherds were not considered an important group of people during the time of Jesus’ birth. A lot of people looked down on them because they had a dirty, rough job. They couldn’t really go to the temple very often. And some people thought of them as the least important people around. But that isn’t how God thought about them. The shepherds became the first people to hear about the Messiah’s birth. They were among the first people to ever see the baby Jesus.

When God decided to choose the shepherds to carry the good news of the Messiah’s birth, he was sending an important message to the world. Jesus was going to be the Savior “for all the people.”

A lot of people in our world today need the same message God gave those shepherds. Christmas is an easy time to share the gospel message, the good news of Christ’s birth. We just need to tell people the “reason for the season.” Jesus, the baby in the manger, is everyone’s Savior, given to us by God.

God chose to give all of us his Son, but one question remains. “Have you chosen Jesus to be your Savior?” It is easy to do!

Think about this prayer. When you are ready to make these words your promise to God, you can make this your prayer:

Father God, Thank you for loving me and for giving me your Son, Jesus. I ask that you forgive me for the bad choices that I have made. Thank you for promising that you will always forgive me when I ask. I believe the good news of the angel’s message that Jesus came to be my Lord and Savior. And now, I want to ask him to forgive my sins and live in my heart. I want to live my life with Jesus as my Lord and king. Thank you, God, for sending Jesus. It’s in his name that I pray.

Amen.

If you meant those words you just prayed, then Jesus is your Lord and Savior. He will be with you every day of your life. The Bible calls him our “Helper.” Now, share the good news of your salvation with someone you love, with your Sunday School or small group teacher, or with your church family. Talk to your parents about being baptized so that you can share your good news with others. And you can know, the same angels that celebrated with the shepherds are celebrating with you right now!