[Dailydevo] Daily Devotion Friday November 24, 2006

[Barry Ludwig]

Daily Devotion Friday November 24, 2006 

This week's devotions are written by Seminarian Kelsay Parker.  The holidays
bring forth our grief and anxiety in subtle ways:  we feel the loss of loved
ones deeply, we mourn relationships that have been broken in our lives, we
worry about making ends meet.  This week's devotions are an opportunity to
regroup, reflect, and refocus on the heart of the holidays, the grace of
God, the gift of Jesus.

 

Mark 8:33-35

Then they came to Capernaum: and when he was in the house he asked them,
"What were you arguing about on the way?" But the disciples were silent, for
on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.  He sat
down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must
be last of all and servant of all."

 

There is a new movie being released today.  It's called "Deck the Halls."
And in this movie Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito play to neighbor guys
trying to "out-decorate" each other with spectacular light displays visible
from outer space!!!  Hmmm. have you ever felt your holiday celebrations
turning into a competition?  Who is hosting Thanksgiving this year?  Which
family will we spend Christmas with?  Whose gift does mom like the most?
Just like the disciples in Mark's gospel, we so easily become concerned with
greatness.  Jesus responds by refocusing us on the heart of discipleship -
servanthood.  This is a perspective switch that we could use right now as we
celebrate Thanksgiving and approach Christmas.Let us remember that the heart
of the message is not one of greatness.  The heart of our celebration is
that Christ has come to be your servant and your savior, and you are
honored, empowered, and challenged to follow in faith

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/dailydevo_zlc-aa.org/attachments/20061124/747eaea2/attachment.html