Parents, I’d like you to take a moment to think about Christmas. Yes, I know it’s only October, but hear me out! Also, if you read all the way to the end of this blog, there’s a free gift for you.
Speaking of gifts, then: have you started thinking about a Christmas gift you could buy that would make your child really happy? We love to make our kids happy, don’t we? Nothing can replace that feeling of seeing the sheer delight on their face and hearing them exclaim with surprise and joy.
The commercial lights-and-gifts-and-fun-and-music-and-treats that take over the month of December each year may produce a kind of happiness. But it’s the kind that fades when the lights go out and the gifts wear out or break. Lasting happiness only comes through what God has given us. He has given us the greatest gift – his Son.
So, let me suggest one way that you could make this greatest Gift the focus of your Christmas this year: get your family excited with an advent devotional that you all do together. At the end of this post, you can even download the first three days of my new Advent family devotional, A Jesus Christmas, so you can try one devotional option out for yourselves.
Explore God's amazing plan for Christmas with this family devotional for Advent written by Barbara Reaoch.
A Jesus Christmas is my new Advent family devotional all about - you guessed it - Jesus. Read it together as a family each day in December to make Christ the focus of your Christmas. Use it with children who already believe and with those who do not yet believe in Jesus.
Here’s the big idea behind A Jesus Christmas: Right from the beginning, the serpent lied to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden – and he has been lying ever since. But right from the beginning, God told us his amazing plan to send Jesus. Each day during Advent you will look at one of the serpent's lies, and then show how the glorious truth of Christmas beats it every time! God prepared the world for Jesus and he will prepare your heart to celebrate this Christmas in a new and lasting way.
How can you make your child truly happy this Christmas? Only Jesus can give real happiness that never wears out – it lasts forever!
So it may only be October, but give A Jesus Christmas a try. Help your kids to get excited about Jesus. Who knows, maybe you’ll want to join me this Christmas and spend the month of December digging into the true joy of Christmas with your family.
FREE GIFT: Download Days 1-3 of A Jesus Christmas - “God’s Plan for Christmas” (PDF)
Barbara Reaoch was Bible Study Fellowship’s Director of the Children’s Division for many years. She is the author of A Jesus Christmas, Why Christmas? and Why Easter? She loves God, her husband, their family… and writing gospel-centered children’s materials.