Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Christmas Day” for Thursday, 25 December 2014 - Scripture: Colossians 3:15-17

Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Christmas Day” for Thursday, 25 December 2014 - Scripture: Colossians 3:15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.[Galatians 3:26 (NRSV)]
Every Christmas season one of my responsibilities as music director is to prepare a cantata with my church choir for our congregation. This year we also presented the cantata at a local nursing home and invited the residents to join us in singing familiar carols. No lyrics were provided for this special performance, but when I gave the signal for the audience to join in, the residents — even those with dementia — sang with all their hearts. They needed no help in recalling the carols they loved so much. Those words of God’s love were etched into their memories, and nothing could prevent the words from bubbling up from deep within.
As we sang of shepherds, wise men, and angels, we saw that although we had obvious physical differences, the residents and choir members merely belonged to separate generations of God’s family. They, the older brothers and sisters and we, the younger were all simply children of God, saved by grace. In that glorious moment of singing together, God allowed me a glimpse of a time when his entire family will sing forever in the presence of our Savior. And what a choir that will be! Hallelujah! Glory to the newborn King!
The Author: Jacob C. Schneider (Maryland, USA)
Thought for the Day: God’s children come in all shapes and sizes — and ages.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for loving us so much. Help us to look beyond our physical differences and to realize that we all belong to you. Amen.
Prayer focus: Nursing-home residents
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