Christmas Countdown and Quick Thought – Wednesday, December 16, 2020

9 Days Until Christmas!

Song: “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” by Celtic Women
Christmas Album: “Christmas: The Gift,” by Colin Raye
Christmas DVD: “The Polar Express”
Netflix Movie: “The Holiday Calendar”
Amazon Prime Movie: “A Christmas Wish”
Disney+ Movie: “One Magic Christmas”
Hulu Movie: “A Christmas Movie Christmas”
Hallmark Movie: “A Nutcracker Christmas”
On TV:
• “Fred Claus,” 3:30 p.m., AMC
• “The Santa Clause,” 4:15 p.m., Freeform
• “Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater,” 4 p.m., Hallmark
• “Sweet Mountain Christmas,” 4 p.m., Lifetime
• “The Grinch,” 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., FXX
• “Scrooged,” 6 p.m., AMC
• “Love, Lights, Hanukkah!” 6 p.m., Hallmark
• “Candy Cane Christmas,” 6 p.m., Lifetime
• “The Santa Clause 2,” 6:25 p.m., Freeform
• “The Great Christmas Light Fight,” 8 p.m., ABC
• “Penn & Teller: Merry Fool Us,” 8 p.m., CW
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., AMC
• “Christmas She Wrote,” 8 p.m., Hallmark
• “Every Day Is Christmas,” 8 p.m., Lifetime
• “An En Vogue Christmas,” 8 p.m., OWN
• “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” 8:55 p.m., Freeform
• “A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special,” 9 p.m., NBC
• “The Christmas Cottage,” 10 p.m., Hallmark
• “A Christmas for Mary,” 10 p.m., OWN
• “My Christmas Inn,” 10:03 p.m., Lifetime
Recipe: Meemaw’s Kitchen Sink Christmas Cookies

Quick Thought for Christmas

Read

Matthew 1:18-24

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
Matthew 1:19

Reflect

So much attention is focused on Mary at this time of year, and that’s only natural. After all, she was specially chosen by God to give birth to His only Son. But so little attention is actually focused on Joseph – and that’s also fairly natural. Since God was the actual Father of Jesus, Joseph is kind of the “odd man out.” Jesus wasn’t really his child, but without Joseph, this story of Christmas couldn’t be complete.

I’ve said on previous days that Mary’s life was at stake because of her premarital pregnancy. Under strict Jewish law, sex outside of marriage was often punished by stoning the guilty party to death. But even before he had an angel-influenced dream, Joseph protected Mary by seeking to quietly deal with her situation. He had every right to demand her death, but he showed godly character instead.

The amazing thing is that God was providing for what Jesus needed even before He was born. He knew that Joseph was a good man who would protect Mary so that Jesus could be born. He also knew that Joseph would be a good earthly father for Jesus, someone who could model manhood, teach him the important qualities in life and also provide a solid, stable home for his family.

The Lord provides for each of us the things we need, even if we don’t realize we’re going to need them. If you look around yourself, you’ll see the evidence of this – things that you have that you didn’t even really have to think about, right down to the air that you breathe.

In nine days, you’ll open presents, some of which may be things that you asked for. But before you get to the Christmas tree, start thanking God for providing the little things that you didn’t ask for. Put your heart in a spirit of thanksgiving so that no matter what you receive on Christmas, you can be truly grateful for what you unwrap.