An Advent Reflection for December 25, 2015, the Final Day of Advent

Advent concludes on Christmas Day, and the theme for this final Advent devotional is Jesus. The old and well-worn adage reminds us that, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” I don’t know; it may just be me, but I feel that amidst all the loving gifts and well intentioned activities of the holiday, we may have lost sight of what it means to have Jesus as the reason for the season.

As I was thinking about this and searching for the reason that would make this saying true in my life this year, I remembered a line in the fifth verse of the Christmas carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem (underlined below).

The Story of Christmas from the LumoProject.com

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel

I’m not sure why, but when I remembered that line, my first thought was, “How is born spelled in the song? Born, or borne?

It’s more than obvious that when we celebrate someone’s birthday, we are celebrating the day they were born. But, it is much more than that. It is celebrating their life, and especially with Jesus, the continual impact his life has in our lives today. So, as we celebrate Christmas this year, may the life of Jesus birth something new in our hearts and lives. May we also faithfully bear the image of Jesus through the ways we love God by loving others – Jesus, being borne in us today.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Also published on Medium.