It's December 1. That means that it's time to start the Advent calendar countdowns to Christmas Day, pull out your Elf on the Shelf, or begin all of the other fun December traditions that float around in your family.
...But wait!
Years ago, I discovered something called The Jesse Tree. It happened even before I had children and don't remember how I "stumbled" upon this idea, but it fascinated me to dig deeper spiritually and learn that all of the fulfilled prophesies we celebrate at Christmas time were there all along as if God was dropping hints throughout the Old Testament while waiting to be fulfilled as told in the New Testament.
To make your own Jesse Tree all you need is a Christmas tree and 25 specific ornaments. Some families make their own ornaments, others find them at stores or thrift stores, while some do a combination of the two. You can use your large family tree, or designate a small artificial tree that you pull out each year just to use as your Jesse tree. OK, over the years of remembering through the Jesse Tree, I've come to realize that some Christians take issue with the actual Christmas Tree. I'll let you explore the reasons behind that on your own to come to your own prayerful decision, but if you have a problem with using an actual Christmas Tree, you can always create a banner or display the Jesse Tree ornaments in some other way.
What is the Jesse Tree? It's a way to countdown to advent, on Christmas Day, while remembering the prophesies from the Old Testament that got us to the New Testament promise of a baby named Jesus who would one day grow to become our savior. The idea goes back to the Old Testament prophecy found in Isaiah 11:10 that from the root of Jesse would come our Savior.
Day 1 Ornament: The first ornament is a globe.
Day 1 Verses:
Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning god created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God in the beginning.
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