What if we approached every day with the anticipation and excitement as we do Christmas Day?

In reality, we are given gifts every single day, and the best kind. To be honest, our daily routines and overloaded schedules keep us from truly appreciating our numerous blessings.

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation." - Psalm 68:18

Granted, these benefits or (in light of this celebrated day) "gifts", may not come in pretty ribbons or sparkling wrapping paper but they bear a greater significance than any item we may have on our "list".

Matthew Henry puts it in a greater perspective in his commentary...

     "Those that take God for their God, and so give up themselves to him to be his people, shall be loaded with his benefits, and to them he will be a God of salvation.
Blessed be the Lord; for it is owing to the mediation of Christ that we live, and live comfortably, and are daily loaded with benefits. So many, so weighty, are the gifts of God's bounty to us that he may be truly said to load us with them; he pours out blessings till there is no room to receive them, So constant are they, and so unwearied is he in doing us good, that he daily loads us with them, according as the necessity of every day requires."

If we truly realized how greatly we reap from the gift of Jesus Christ, then every single day would feel like Christmas to the believer! He pours out blessings on us daily, whether our head is uplifted to see them or not. It's ours for the taking.
Now, what will we give in return?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The following is a devotion from Our Daily Bread Christmas Edition...



Bethlehem Ephrathah . . . a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. —Micah 5:2

During a visit to England’s picturesque Stratford-upon-Avon, I was struck by how a town’s identity and future can be affected just because someone was born there. Every year, half a million people come to visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare, whom some consider the most influential playwright in the English language.

And what about Bethlehem? With the birth of Jesus, Micah’s prophecy of significance was fulfilled: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf” (Micah 5:2). Bethlehem is defined by Jesus’ birth.

Isn’t the same true for us? When Christ comes to live in us, we are changed. No longer just ordinary human beings, we become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Our identity and destiny are marked by Him, just as surely as a town becomes known for the significant person who was born there.

Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate the presence of Christ in us, and the change He brings to all who invite Him in. —David McCasland

God came to live with us so we could live with Him.