The Bible for Women

Weekly Devotional

Birthdays

We enjoy celebrating our birthdays. Today is my husband's birthday. He received phone calls, gifts, cards, and well wishes- a few jabs about his gray hair. When we have a birthday, many times we have friends who want to take us out to lunch and make us feel special. Many of us have been the guest at a surprise party in our honor. A friend of mine treated me to a surprise party a few years ago and I felt so special that she had brought all of my friends together to celebrate my birthday. I was so humbled that all of those people had taken time out of their night for me.

But you know what was even more special about that night? My friends not only treated me special on that night, but every day. My friends don't show up once a year to let me know how special I am. They are with me all throughout the year. My sisters in Christ have brought me food when I had surgery. They have encouraged me in a difficult time. They call me throughout the week to see how my life is going. They ask about my children and my parents. They pay attention when I am troubled or when I have something to say. My sisters will congratulate me over a victory and cry with me in defeat. They compliment a new haircut or a new purse. My sisters love me when I make a mistake. They forgive me when I have hurt them and they smile kindly when I shamefully come to them asking forgiveness.

Why should we develop our friends from sisters in Christ? Because they try to exemplify Christ. We want to be surrounded by people who want to be like Christ. We make relationships with those who want relationships with us in Christ.

Many Christians celebrate the birth of Christ around December 25th. We know that Christ was not born on December 25th. In fact, we don't know the exact day at all. Many of us have read the account of where the celebration began, but with that aside, what a wonderful thing for the world to recognize the birth of the Savior of the world. We celebrate our own birthdays so it stands a marvelous thing to celebrate the birth of Christ on any day. One of my favorite songs about the birth of Christ reads, "O holy night! the stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Savior's birth; Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn; Fall on your knees, Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born! O night, O holy night , O night divine!" Without his birth, there would have been no death, and without his death, there would have been no resurrection, and without his resurrection, there would be no eternal life awaiting us. The world needed his birth.

More than celebrating the birth of Christ on a specific day, we need to make Christ a special part of our lives every day. We cannot expect to have a relationship with him if we only remind him one day a year that we need him and they we value him. We must make time for him every day and as we celebrate this season, let us focus on our relationship with Christ every day to come. Read our Bibles. Pray. Share him with others. Imitate him. Allow him to be our friend, our brother, our Savior, every day, every moment.

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14

May God bless your week. Margie