We are thrilled to share that our Christmas Devotional for Teenagers is now available for preorder! Purchase your copy of Longing for Christmas today at New Growth Press or wherever you buy books. Don’t miss the opportunity to buy in bulk for a discount on the New Growth Press website — a perfect gift for your youth ministry students, or all the kids or grandkids in your family! Enjoy this small excerpt from the devotional, available in full in Longing for Christmas.
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. (Malachi 3:1-3)
In our fallen world, life is full of suffering— and sadly, we sometimes find that those with the most power to end that suffering are often unjust or cruel. Part of Advent is weeping over those realities and longing that our world would be different than it is.
In the Bible, the family of Levi had a lot of power. They were God’s priests. And they didn’t just run religious services and offer sacrifices to God for the people’s sin, they were also judges in the land of Israel. But during Malachi’s lifetime these priests had turned corrupt and abused their power… To read the rest of this devotional and all 25 entries, purchase our advent devotional, Longing for Christmas.
