He Took Our Flesh: An Advent Devotional
Every December, I feel the tension that many believers experience. We enter a season that should draw our hearts to Christ, yet our schedules fill, distractions multiply, and before we know it, Christmas arrives, and we have barely made room to meditate on the very truth that changed the world. Advent is meant to be a season of remembering, longing, and worship. It invites us to slow down and consider the miracle at the center of our faith—the eternal Son of God taking on flesh for us and for our salvation.
Over the years, I have found that my own heart is steadied when I go back to Scripture and then listen to the men in church history who loved Christ deeply. No matter what generation they lived in, no matter what trials or cultural pressures surrounded them, they spoke of Christ with reverence and joy that transcends time. They help us see our Savior more clearly, and they remind us that every believer, in every age, has placed all hope in the One who became man to redeem us.
That is why I wanted to compile He Took Our Flesh: Advent Readings on the Person and Work of Christ. This devotional is not a collection of sentimental Christmas thoughts. It is a focused journey through the glories of Christ and His incarnation. Each day begins with Scripture and then leads into a historic reading from voices such as John Owen, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Watson, Richard Sibbes, John Bunyan, and others. These men help us behold the wonder of Christ taking on human nature so that He might save those who had no hope apart from Him.
At the end of every day, I offer questions for meditation. These questions are meant to encourage the heart and mind to linger, to apply what has been read, and to move from information to worship. My hope in compiling this devotional was not to give people something else to read in an already busy month. It was to help believers slow down long enough to marvel again at the glory of Christ.
The incarnation is not a small side doctrine. It is the foundation of our salvation. The manger cannot be separated from the cross. The eternal Son of God did not simply visit the world. He became one of us so that He might stand in our place, bear our sin, conquer death, and bring His people safely home. If that truth does not move our hearts to worship, nothing will.
My prayer is that these twenty-five days in December will help you rest more fully in Christ, trust more deeply in His finished work, and rejoice more freely in the God who keeps every promise. I pray that individuals, families, and churches will be encouraged as they lift their eyes from the busyness of the season and look to the Savior who came, who reigns, and who will return.
