During Advent this year, I have been reflecting daily using this Advent Photo Devotional. The word designated for today, Christmas Eve, is #Love.

At the heart of who we are and who we have been created to be, is love. That’s something I hope that we are reminded of on this Christmas Eve. This love is something without limit. It’s a gift from God, but one we can’t help but be so moved to share with others. At least, that’s what I believe anyway.

How do you feel and sense love this Christmas Eve?

A song that says this better than I probably could is, “Love Has Come”:

Love has come, a light in the darkness! Love shines forth in the Bethlehem skies. See, all heaven has come to proclaim it; hear how their song of joy arises: Love! Love! Born unto you, a Savior! Love! Love! Glory to God on high.

Love is born! Come, share in the wonder. Love is God now a sleep in the hay. See the glow in the eyes of his mother; what is the name her heart is saying? Love! Love! Love is the name she whispers; Love! Love! Jesus, Immanuel.

Love has come and never will leave us! Love is life everlasting and free. Love is Jesus within and among us. Love is the peace our hearts are seeking. Love! Love! Love is the gift of Christmas. Love! Love! Praise to you, God on high!

I invite you to join my prayer today: Thank you God for the gift of love we know in Christ Jesus. May that love be born in us anew this night. May love, the gift of Christmas, fill our hearts, souls, bodies, mind, and strength. May we share that gift with those near and far in all that we think, do, and say. Amen.

To all of you, friends, colleagues, conversation partners, and connections across time and space, Merry Christmas from my home and family to yours!

Credit: “Love Has Come,” Ken Bible, F. Seguin, found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 292.