Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Friday within the Octave of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: St. Luke 2:22-24 (NKJV)

22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Devotion

Every aspect of Jesus’ life was in fulfillment of God’s Word. From the lineage of His parents to the place of His birth, and all that was done to Him even as a young child, these things happened to satisfy all the righteous instructions of the Lord.

It was no accident that the Savior had been entrusted to Joseph and Mary. By God’s wise providence He worked through the faithfulness of these people so that the infant Jesus would be raised according to His Word. It is similar to the way that the Lord works through faithful Christian parents to bring their young children into the life of the Church through the Sacrament of Baptism. Faithful or unfaithful, all parents have the responsibility to provide for the needs of their children, so faithful parents care for the very real spiritual needs of their little ones by bringing them to the Lord so that He may clothe them in Christ’s righteousness and feed them with His Word.

God has blessed all peoples and nations through the ages with His promises and commands. These holy Words and ordinances were passed on from parents to children for the purpose of recognizing and remembering His ultimate grace in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins!

We pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the new birth of Thine only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free, who are held in the old bondage under the yoke of sin; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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