Today’s Passage: Luke 2:21–24

Jesus, being born to Mary and Joseph, is part of God’s plan—the key piece to a long-awaited puzzle. The Jewish people would be saved. Jerusalem, not merely a place, but symbolic of their national heart, would be restored. Isn’t that what we have been reading? It started with the angel proclaiming this to Zechariah and Mary. They believed what many think impossible.

You might expect them to abandon all the old rituals and laws; after all, a new thing was happening. Yet they do not. Jesus’ birth, while new and exciting, is part of God’s plan. And so, they bring the Savior of the world—their firstborn son—to the temple, and dedicate him to the Father.

We read elsewhere in the Bible that God has a plan for you. Many people, especially in the West, where our sense of individualism is strong, interpret that promise from God as some sort guarantee of a great life.

Instead, it means that God has a plan for how your life fits his plan for the redemption of his world.

Could you read that sentence again? The world does not revolve around you (or me). It revolves around God. What do you think of that statement?

Pray about how you “fit” into God’s plan—dedicate yourself to it.