John 1: 1-3, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

It is early January 2023, and I have been trying to think about what to write for February.  As I look back on December, I take a breath and wonder at this past Christmas season.  I’m feel like I am still recovering from the busyness.    Every weekend, I had plans and activities.  One week, I had an event every night.  For the two weeks before and after Christmas, my commute was made longer by heavy traffic.  My brother came into town, and I got to spend some good, quality time with him and the rest of my family.  But I did not spend a lot of good, quality time with my God, and because of that, it was very easy for me to lose sight of what I was really celebrating when Christmas arrived.  

Then on the Sunday before Christmas, my Pastor’s sermon focused on John 1.  He preached about the Word – Jesus Christ – who became flesh and dwelt as a man among men.  It made me think of the song by William E Booth-Clibborn, which says, “The Great Creator became my Savior.”  As I thought about what I wanted to write for the February devotional, I kept coming back to that thought.  The Great Creator became my Savior.  Wow.

The Great Creator:  Genesis 1 recounts how God created light, darkness, time, the world, and everything in the world.  My favorite verse in Genesis is Genesis 1: 16. “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”  I asked Google how many stars are in the universe, and the answer is amazing: about 200 billion trillion.  Written out, that’s 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.  My God is so big, so great, that when He talks about creating these billions of trillions of stars, He merely says, “I made those also.”  

My Savior:  John 1:3 says that without the Word – Jesus Christ – nothing would have been created.  Yet He humbled himself and became obedient unto the death of the cross so that we could be saved from sin.  “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5: 8).  Perhaps as He set those stars in space, He was thinking of me, knowing my sin, yet still loving me.  He was thinking of you, and He was loving you.  Can you imagine Him, hanging the stars like we hung our ornaments at Christmas?  And all the while, He was planning how He would come to earth as a baby, live a perfect life, and die on the cross so that He could rescue all people from sin.  I echo that great hymn, Hallelujah, what a Savior!

It is so easy to forget during the busyness of the Christmas season why we celebrate Christmas.  I’m afraid I lost focus for a while.  It’s easy to get complacent after Christmas too.  Now it’s February; over a month of 2023 has passed.  I don’t want to fall into the same complacency again.  I am challenging myself this month to try not to lose focus on my Great Creator and Savior.  I want to get to know Him better.  He cares about my life and yours, every tiny little detail.  If you don’t know Him today, you can.  “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).  If you call on Him, He will hear you.  He loves you, and he wants you to know Him.