Monday, December 16, 2013

The third day of Christmas: Three French Hens

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)

While on vacation many years ago, I took pictures of the prettiest chickens that I had ever seen.  It was not until I was researching the Twelve Days of Christmas song that I realized that they were French hens. The French hen is one of the most colorful of chickens.

In the Twelve Days of Christmas song, these chickens by some accounts represent the three theological virtues: faith, hope and love. These are the foundations of a Christian life. Without having faith in Jesus, how can we have hope in this world and love others?

Throughout the holiday season we receive many gifts. My favorites are the ones that my family and friends take the time to make. You will see several ornaments on my tree that were made by my children and friends to express their love. There is a lot of love hanging on the tree.

Jesus came to earth to give His life so that we will hope in a lost and dying world.  With the birth of Jesus we received the gift of hope. With this gift of hope we also received the gift of love, the greatest of all gifts.

Love is not always easy to give. Resentments, hurts and past mistakes bind the love in our hearts toward others. When we break those bonds with the help of Jesus, we are free to love and receive love.

This year I want to focus on Jesus. I want my life to be as colorful as those French hens with the right amount of faith, hope and love. I want love to be the brightest of all.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving the greatest gift of all love.


Dawn Sexton © 2013

1 comment:

Evelyn R. said...

Dawn, you wrote a wonderful devotional. You need to write more often. God bless you at this special time of year and also into the New Year, 2014.

E. Bonnie