1 Step Closer Devotion

Describing the Indescribable

“Describing the Indescribable” 12/2022

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer. Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, every single one of them …from Rudolph to Blitzen … had to be a girl. But we should have known that, right? I mean…they were able to find their way!

Sometimes to find the way in keeping Christmas focused on Christ isn’t easy either, is it? Satan, the ultimate Grinch, will try to steal your joy in Jesus. No one is immune. Kids obsess over what they will get. Parents put pressure on themselves to “perform” and give the best Christmas. A young lady has in her mind December 25th for when he’s “gonna put a ring on it” while he is putting finishing touches on the homemade cutting board he made for her for their home someday (Pray for him!). So the birth of Christ is pushed from the center stage.

Well, here’s a way to manage the craziness and actually enjoy Christmas for what it is - the birth of blood stained Royalty to save us from our sin. Each day take a word in your morning prayer to describe “the indescribable gift” God gave you that first Christmas. You see, Paul considers all that we were given in the gift of God’s Son to be our Savior that first Christmas and he spontaneously states: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

That’s amazing actually because Paul was a preacher. Preachers tend to have words, plenty of them. But to think of immanence experienced in a boy. Holiness housed in humanity. Truth read clearly. Love drawn nearly - as a boy. Well, the best Paul could do was “indescribable!” And when you think of all we have in Christ it is beyond words. But try, my friend, be sure to try each day. You’ll be on your way to a more Christ-focused Christmas. Below is a Christmas acrostic with fitting adjectives you might use to stir your creativity. Merry Christmas!

Describing the indescribable with you right up until the 25th,

Pastor Tim (1-210-837-3934) 10am Sunday Worship / www.abidingsaviortx.com

Abiding Savior Lutheran Church 458 Turkey Trot Rd. Killeen, TX 76542

C - aptivating (God has a face for me/2 Cor 5:14) H - elping (Christmas is for the helpless/Ps 118:6, 7) R - edeeming (He bought us back to be with him/Is 41:14) I - nclusive (Heaven’s treasure is humanity’s gift/ Jn 3:16) S - heperding (The one above all names knows my name/Matt 2:6) T - riune(All 3 found in one/Lk 1:30-35) M - essianic (The promised Prophet, Priest, and King has come (Jn 4:25) A - lmighty (The infant voice will call forth the dead/(Jn 11:43) S - aving (God had in mind rescuing us from our sin/(Mat 1:21)

Amory Stephenson