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Unbroken Circles
Devotional for Thursday, December 16, 2004 by June Heale
Matthew 2:11 - And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (NKJV)I don't have gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but I do have treasures. This year I have decided to make memory books as Christmas gifts for our six grandchildren, from age nine to twenty-six. As I pore over treasures they have made for us as their grandparents, and photos of quality time spent together, I count my blessings for the cherished memories of hours spent with them. I look at these as gifts from their hearts and souls to ours, and then back to their hearts and souls. Full circle -- that's what I call it; may the circle be unbroken. I can hardly wait to see their faces when they receive these books.
One item in particular that one granddaughter gave me was an outline of a foot with these words printed around it, "I will follow in the footsteps of Jesus." Sadly this grandchild has moved away from the Sunday School and Church teachings of her younger days, but I hold hope for her, as she had the grounding as a little girl. Beside this treasure in her book, I wrote, "I know you will." I definitely feel that if children get the grounding to learn about the gift that God sent to His children in their impressionable learning years, when they grow old, they will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. (NKJV)
Like me, you can probably agree with this wise proverb. I know that my learning about the great gifts of God in my little church in Ontario has stayed with me forever. It has been my constant throughout many a challenging time.
We have an awesome responsibility -- and a great privilege -- to deliver God's message to the next generations, to make sure that the great circle God began when He sent his treasured Son to us as a little babe at Bethlehem is unbroken.
Isaiah 40:22 - It is He who sits above the circle of the earth. (NKJV)
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, forgive us, Your servants, for the times when we have shirked our duties in passing on Your love to the next generations. This is the love which will keep the circle unbroken -- this circle which leads right back to You, our most precious gift of all time. In Jesus' name. Amen.
June Heale <jinny4@mac.com>
Comox, British Columbia, Canada
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Today's Music:
Ring Christmas Bells.