As we near the Christmas season, we want to make much of Christ. Because we have started a series on the Gospel of Luke, my mind is already focused on Christmas. I pray that we see the true glory of Jesus’ birth in our celebrations.

Finding quality devotional material can be a challenge, so I wanted to recommend a book that you can use to focus your thoughts this Christmas season.

Albert Mohler is the president of Boice College and Southern Seminary, the Southern Baptists largest training school. He is a prolific author and speaker who I have appreciated through the years. His daily podcast The Briefing is also a helpful tool where he considers current world events from a Christian worldview.

Dr. Mohler has released a new book called Recapturing the Glory of Christmas. It is a 25-day devotional on the advent of Christ. Although I have not finished it yet, I have read enough of it to feel comfortable recommending it as a tool to direct your thoughts towards the true emphasis of Christmas.

Each meditation is short (five pages or less), making it a usable tool for personal or family devotions. In the chapters that I have read, Mohler seems to hit a very good balance. The book does not promote an emotional approach to the Christmas events that so many modern looks at nativity story seem to do. Yet it is not dry theology either. As the chapter entitled A Properly Sentimental Season expresses, there should be an emotional response to the Christmas narrative. Yet the sentimentality he encourages is produced by the biblical truths about Christ rather than emotionally charged mythology.

So, if you are looking for a helpful resource to focus your thoughts over the Christmas season, I would recommend that you give Recapturing the Glory of Christmas at try. In a culture dominated by secularism and materialism, may we be those who joy in the season is rooted in the truth that the Savior has been born!

She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. – Matthew 1:21