The Upper Room Devotional 25 December 2023
The Upper Room Devotional 25 December 2023The Upper Room Devotional 25 December 2023, Monday Message by Carol Thornton (Alberta, Canada)
TOPIC: Christmas Day
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TODAY’S READING
Matthew 23:1-12
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. – Proverbs 11:25 (NIV)
When I was ten, I had never given a Christmas gift. My family barely had enough money for my parents to buy presents. But that December, a neighbor came to our farmhouse with a box of dolls and two toy nurse kits her daughter had outgrown. I asked my mother if I could give these toys to my three younger sisters. Over the next few days, Mom helped me sew a simple dress for each doll. I carefully scrubbed the medical bags, stethoscopes, and thermometers, and Mom bought small candies to equip the kits with pills and potions. Finally Mom let me stay up late to make wrapping paper, using potato stamps to print designs on brown grocery bags. As I placed the presents under the tree, I could barely contain my excitement. The next morning, seeing the joy on the faces of my sisters and our mother was the best Christmas gift I had ever received.
Now that I’m a mom myself, I appreciate the kindness of that neighbor, but I especially admire the generosity of my mother. She might have hoped to give these toys to her daughters but saw an opportunity to teach me how giving blesses the giver. Whether we give to our loved ones, to people in our community, or to strangers far away, we can be thankful for every opportunity to share generously the gifts that God has provided.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear God, open our eyes to see who needs help. Open our hearts so that we can generously share the blessings you have provided. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
I am richly blessed by each gift I give.
PRAYER FOCUS
To share generously and creatively
The Upper Room is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. The meditations are stories of real people working to live faithfully with the Bible as their touchstone. Every day, readers of The Upper Room around the world read the same story in many different languages and pray the same prayer together.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY
