Special Devotion by VCS Spiritual Life Director DJ Jenkins
The end of 2024 is upon us, and half of our 2024-2025 school year is now gone. End of calendar years and the end of semesters are always great times to pause and reflect on what has come before. For our Village Family, we spent much of the semester celebrating our 75th anniversary and all God has done on this campus for more than seven decades.
I hope, whether you are new to Village or you’re a lifer, hearing stories of faithful men and women over the years helping students thrive and become all God wants them to be has been as encouraging to you as it has been to me. And if you’re a student, I pray you see that your education is part of a larger tapestry of so many who have come before you. It’s a reminder that God is always at work to accomplish His good purposes, far beyond our own personal lives, and it’s a reason to trust Him with our school as we move forward in the future together.
I think one of the most wonderful things about this time of year is that we have something to reflect on that wasn’t just significant in the last 100 years, but took place more than 2000 years ago – and is significant for all eternity.
Two things about Christmas are standing out to me as I write this devotional. The first is from one of the most well-known verses in the Bible – John 3:16:
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
The best news in all of the world in 2024, and the best news for all of history, whether you are a student or well-past your school years, is that God came into our broken world. He didn’t just come to bring judgement or wrath; He came to save. He came to give.
And what did He give to us at Christmas? The very best; His own Son.
Why did He do this? Was He fed up with us? Like an annoyed teenager hearing old folks like me say things, was He rolling His eyes at us and saying begrudgingly, “Fine, I’ll do it myself?” No. He came because of His great love for the world. The feeling that moved Him to give His own Son was not annoyance or “cringe;” it was love. And through His Son, the gift we are offered is not a momentary high or the next trend, it’s eternal life. Everything we’ve ever truly wanted, ours, if we’ll have Him.
The other thing ringing in my ears is the words of one of the most famous Christmas hymns, Joy to the World:
“He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found“
Sometimes, the holidays are hard. Family situations during these days off of school might be places of tension or difficulty. Growing up, I lived in a broken home and rarely saw my absent father. Family members may be seriously ill or it could be the first year since a dear member of our family passed away. “The Curse” is still felt in our world far too often. Yet Jesus coming at Christmas is the beginning of the reversal of the Curse of sin. “He comes to make His blessings flow…not only in our souls through His work of salvation, but He’s reversing all the effects of the Curse as far as it is found (which is everywhere!).
Christmas is a promise that this work will continue until one day, when Jesus returns, all things are made new (Revelation 21:5).
May this good news be an encouragement to you students and all Village families at this time of year.
He has come.
Merry Christmas!