Dear God, please grant strength for the journey in the life of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Romans 1: I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God's words and acts. I write this letter to all the Christians in Rome, God's friends. 2 The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets 3 on God's Son. His descent from David roots him in history; 4 his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master. 5 Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. 6 You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ! 7 And I greet you now with all the generosity of God our Father and our Master Jesus, the Messiah.
Have you ever bought something that came with a Certificate of Authenticity? It's usually a piece of paper that says that the ridiculous amount of money you or someone spent for you on this item was worth it, because this is "the real deal!" There is no deal more real nor precious than the thought of that great gift given us some two thousand years ago that causes our yearly celebration that we call Christmas. Paul's excitement of his having been included in this deal caused his life to change and for us to have the text for today. Paul wants all the world to know and he wants to share as his proof, that this Jesus is the One! In Jesus, Paul writes, we have life in Jesus and the obligation/joy of passing it on to others.
I just wrote my newsletter article for our district and this usually comes out in our conference's newspaper as well, and it's about our "repeat(ing) the sounding joy." I share how every time a child comes to know the Christmas story, of God's great love for you and me, and that story becomes hers or his, we are repeating the great sound of joy that even nature sang on that precious night. Share that joy and that sound with someone today!
PRAYER: Loving and awesome God, I praise You and thank You for all You have done and given to me. Let this day be another day of my celebrating that You have included me in Jesus and that I have as my privilege the joy of sharing Him with someone else. Empower my thoughts, give me boldness and wisdom to share Him. I pray this in Christ Jesus, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
