Advent Devotion ~ Its about the Cross (Day 17)

What an unusual Christmas song by the band Go Fish! For years, I have made simple beaded cross ornaments for gifts, and they are among my favorite Christmas ornaments. Whenever I look upon it I am reminded of the gift of God all the more. God come to Earth not just to live, but to die and rise again, so that we can have new life through Him. This is the reason we celebrate. The reason for our joy.

1 Peter 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.