This devotional is based on an activity found in the Christmas @ Home brochure from the Home Pointe Center at church. I took the activity and added two more verses that I had recently read, to share them in a practical way with Lauren. The focus of this devotional was that Jesus is the light of the world and that as believers we are called to shine our light for Christ.
We began by turning off the lights in the living room and turning on the lights of our Christmas tree to show how they illuminate the darkness. Under the tree we read John 8:12 and then repeated it together. Pointing out the words light and darkness. Next, we read 1 John 1:5-7. I explained that walking in the light means being obedient to God. When we sin (make a bad choice) we should confess (tell God what we did wrong) and repent (make an effort not to do it again). Then we pointed out verse 7, which reminds us that our sins are forgiven because Jesus died on the cross for us.
Ramiro and I then changed into our pajamas (Lauren had already taken her bath and was in hers). We told Lauren we were going to take a little trip for the second half of our devotional. She wanted a hint, so I told her we were going to see something that had the two words we were listening for in the verses we has read (light and darkness). As Lauren tried to guess where we were going; we loaded up in the Jeep with mugs of hot cocoa, Christmas CD's, blankets, and a bible. We went to a neighborhood in Plano to view Christmas lights. While driving through the neighborhood we noticed how beautiful and brightly lit the homes with lights were. As well as, pointing out how the homes without lights were dark and hard to see. After viewing all the houses, we each told which house was our favorite. Lauren's was the one with Santa and his reindeer suspended in air. Ramiro's was a house on a corner lot that had a huge live Christmas tree decorated in front (sorry I didn't get a picture). The life-size nativity scene shown below was my favorite.
On the way home I read Matthew 5:14-16 and we talked about how Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." We explained that once you've asked Jesus into your heart, you are a light to the world too. Jesus wants us to shine our light in the darkness, just like the houses with lights lit up, beautiful and bright, for us to enjoy. We then talked about how we shine our light: by letting others know we believe in God, telling them about Jesus, and showing God's love through our actions. Our devotional ended with a prayer for the families who lit up their houses for us to enjoy. Prayer that those who come to see the houses, will remember that Jesus is the light of the world. Lastly we thanked God for sending His Son to shine His light for us. As you might have guessed from the picture, Lauren was asleep shortly after. However, she loved her first Christmas light viewing and before she conked out she asked if we could do it again next year.
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