Isaiah 61:10-11
I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My soul will celebrate because of my God, for he has clothed me in garments of salvation. With a robe of righteousness, he covered me, like a bridegroom who wears a beautiful headdress like a priest, and like a bride who adorns herself with her jewelry. For as the earth produces its growth, and as a garden causes what has been sown to sprout up, so God the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up in the presence of all the nations.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We praise you for Jesus’ righteousness which you have clothed and covered us with his perfection. Your command for us is this: to be perfect just as you are perfect. So we ask, what does this mean? It means you love us completely with all our warts, bumps, and scars of sin, even when we do not love you in return. Love is not a feeling, but it is what is done. We confuse it when we are in that romantic feeling that everything is going splendidly, and with butterflies, in our stomachs, we tell that person, “I love you!” However, as soon as they forget about us and our needs or say something we consider mean, the feelings become: “oh, I hate when they do that.” Or, in the heat of battle, the “I love you” turns into “I hate you!” It is in this anger and rage where love is; when others get under our skin, and we say we’re sorry; asking for forgiveness; the “I forgive you.” That is love.
Love is what your Son did for us. When we were loveless towards you and others, perhaps we even mumbled the “I hate you.” Jesus came here; he lived his entire life as you demanded, in perfection and without sin. He loved you perfectly, without error, and he loved us, giving his life for our sins. Jesus always hits love’s mark. He did this for us; he covered us in his perfection so that when you see us, we are dressed in Jesus’ righteousness, which comes to us by faith—believing in Jesus as our Savior delivers his perfection. Jesus also suffered our punishment to remove the sins in our lives. All this you give to us by faith alone.
Thank you for our new garments; may we wear them into the world for all to see so that they, too, will want to be clothed by Jesus. Let our faith spring up like a garden so that the world might see our fruits of faith and desire the love and forgiveness you have given us. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
As you admire the Christmas tree, remember how Christ has decorated you. He hung on a dead tree so that he gave you life through his blood and then covered you in his righteousness to restore you to God. All this is yours through faith, only by believing there is really a Savior.