The shepherds were called by the angels to come and worship Jesus. The Magi travelled a great distance, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the One they recognised as king. These two groups perhaps represent two extremes in society. The shepherds were poor people who had little to offer. The Magi were learned men whose gifts represented great wealth.

Christmas is notoriously a time for presents, and for some people, this has become a measure of worth and value. What you give matters; people feel they will be judged by the size or expense of their presents. But Paul reminds us that Christmas – and giving in general – is not really about monetary value. When talking to Christians about giving, he said, ‘if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.’ (2 Cor 8:12) Christmas shouldn’t be a time of getting into debt to fund presents or judging people by the gifts they give. It’s about so much more than gifts; it’s about Jesus, the greatest gift of all, God’s gift to us which cannot be bought but only received with gratitude.

The value that we place on something will vary from person to person. One person places great value on books; another person hates reading. One person places great value on a tidy house; another person doesn’t much care about things like that. There are many times when value is decided by personality or choice, and Christmas celebrations certainly fit into that category. Some people love trimmings and decorations; others hate them. Some people send cards to everyone they know; others consider that a waste of money and donate to charity instead. Value is a strangely movable thing!

But the value God places on people does not change. Each year we remember that He loved people so much He was not prepared to live without their fellowship. Each year we remember that His love for us is so great that He gave His Son not only to live for us but to die for us so that the gulf between God and humanity could be bridged. Every year, we are reminded that we are not useless, insignificant, unimportant or without value because of Christmas. If God loves us so much that Jesus came to be our Saviour, then we have value regardless of anything we do or achieve. We have intrinsic value from God.

If that doesn’t make you stand a little bit taller, I don’t know what will!

The ‘V’ of ‘Advent’ reminds us of the value God places upon people. One of the most famous Bible verses tells us, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) Christmas is all about celebrating the arrival of Jesus as God in human form. It’s all about Christ and the fact that God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him.

Our society may question the value of human beings. Abortion and euthanasia both chip away at the sanctity of human life, a sanctity which comes directly from God. In recent times, governments seem to be intent on creating tiers of society through vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations against Covid-19, essentially dictating value based on a medical procedure. Such things surely are anathema to God, who placed such value on each one of us that He gave His only Son to be our Saviour. We didn’t deserve this; we certainly couldn’t hae earned it. Rom 5:8 reminds us that it’s whilst we were still sinners that Christ died for us. That’s why Christmas is so special and worth celebrating, because it reminds us of the value God Himself places on human life.

On our last day looking at devotion, Advent is a reminder that patience and faithfulness matter in God’s kingdom. God Himself is faithful to us: Heb 10:23 says, ‘he who promised is faithful.’ The faithfulness of God is seen at Christmas-time: God had promised a Deliverer, a Redeemer, from the fall of man (Gen 3:15), and in due time, He sent His Son ‘born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.’ (Gal 4:4-5)

Because God is faithful to us, He calls us to be faithful and devoted to Him. The Christmas story is full of people whose devotion to God is seen outworked in practical ways: Joseph and Mary’s obedience, Simeon and Anna’s faithfulness in attending the synagogue, the shepherds hurrying to see what the angels promised, the Magi travelling long distances to bring gifts to the new-born king.

How can we show our devotion to God? It might be giving food and toys to the Salvation Army foodbank. It might be spending time with a friend or someone who is lonely. It might be coming to church even if you don’t particularly feel like it! Devotion has many different forms, but God sees them all.

Christmas carols are an integral part of the Christmas season, but it can be hard for children sometimes to understand the vocabulary in them or what they are trying to teach. The classic carol ‘Joy To The World’ contains some important truths about salvation, and after listening to this version by Pentatonix, we looked at what this carol has to say about Jesus, reminding ourselves that truth really matters and that it’s important not only to sing, but to sing truth! (see Eph 5:18-20)

In verse 1, we are reminded that Jesus brings joy to the world (see John 15:11) – no wonder Christmas is seen as a time of celebration! Everyone gets excited when a baby is born, but when Jesus was born, this was an extra special time. Earth was receiving her King! Yet, as Luke 2:7 makes plain, there was no fanfare or preparation for this king’s visit; instead, there was no room for Him in Bethlehem. Now we are challenged to make room for Jesus: ‘let every heart prepare Him room.’

In verses 2 and 3, there is singing because ‘the Saviour reigns.’ The very name of Jesus means ‘the Lord saves’ (see Matt 1:21). The truth is that we all need a Saviour, a rescuer, a delivere,r because of the problem of sin, and we can be glad that Jesus saves and is reigning in both truth and grace. We need both. We can sing also because of ‘the glories of His righteousness’ – God always does what is right. The whole earth can sing because of these truths and we can rest also in ‘the wonders of His love.’ Sometimes, the repetition in song lyrics is vital to reinforce truth in our hearts. Nothing could be more wondrous than the love of God.

During this busy period of Advent, we should spend time singing songs that are built on truth (and not just those which paint an idyllic picture which is perhaps impossible to attain) and understand that preparing room for Jesus is the most important thing we can do to prepare for this season.