Welcome back to our special Advent edition of the Daily Devos. Advent means “the arrival.” It is a way to look back and celebrate the Son of God coming to earth to be born as a baby in a manger while we also look forward to His second coming when creation will be redeemed and restored. Through December, we invite you to experience Advent in your own story.

Each week, we will discover a theme or a promise seen in the birth of Jesus that carries us through the “already not yet” as we await the arrival of His eternal Kingdom. This week we are looking at the promise of JOY.

Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.

Have you ever set out at the beginning of a new year with the goal of reading the Bible all the way through? If so, there's a good chance when you started in the New Testament in Matthew, you thought, "What in the world?" You started with the first 16 verses being a genealogy of Jesus.

I’m going to do my best to give you some context and background of why this is here and what we can get from it.

The Gospel of Matthew forms the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments. Matthew, a Jewish tax collector who became one of Jesus’s disciples, wrote this book to the Jews to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and King! More than 400 years had passed since the last Old Testament Prophecies, and the people of Israel were still waiting for the Messiah.

The genealogy that Matthew opens with a list of 46 people, all ancestors of Jesus, that covers 2000 years. This genealogy proves that Jesus is a descendant of both King David and Abraham, just as the Old Testament had predicted. The facts of this ancestry listed by Matthew were the first of many proofs Matthew recorded to show that Jesus is the true Messiah.

Each of these ancestors listed varied in personality and story. Some were heroes of the faith, some were ordinary folks, and still some were pretty shady characters. God’s work is not limited by human failures, and He works through ordinary people. God still uses all kinds of people to accomplish His will, and He wants to use you!

When you feel surrounded by Cousin Eddies this holiday season, take a breath and maybe laugh a little bit. Remember, Jesus knows the feeling. Just do some research into His family. He understands.

But don’t be too prideful because we all have a little Cousin Eddie in us! We are all in need of a Savior!

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Join us here tomorrow for a special Advent Daily Devo Video that unpacks the story of Christmas!
  
• Have you listened to Share Your Story: Christmas Edition yet? Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
  
• Find more Advent tools and resources at venturechurch.org/advent.