Welcome to Advent—a season of fierce grace and unyielding joy. Stop. Breathe it in. The King has come, triumphing over the grave and reigning on high. Together, let’s follow the trail of His glory, stepping into the story of the Child who broke the back of darkness and carried the weary to freedom. May these devotions be a lantern for your path and a spark for your wonder.

Sin is no light thing. It clings like a shadow you can’t outrun, pressing down harder than stone, heavier than mountains. It slithers in with whispers, wraps itself around your heart, and chains you to its lies. You feel its weight in the cracks of your soul, in broken promises, in the jagged edges of every bitter word. Stand tall? Not under this weight. Not without rescue.

But Advent tells us rescue has come. There, in a stable full of straw and the smell of animals, the Child was born—not to carry a crown of gold, but a crown of thorns. And those thorns? They were ours. They were the sharp and twisted result of our sin, pressed into His brow. He bore them because He came to bear us. He didn’t come to make peace with sin; He came to crush it. The weight of sin that grinds us down fell on His back, and He carried it all the way to the cross. Every failure you’ve hidden, every shame you’ve dragged behind you, every tear you’ve shed—He bore it all.

Sin stripped us of the glory we were made for. But the glory we lost is the glory He gives back—not because we earned it, but because He did. His manger led to the thorns, the thorns to the cross, and the cross to His throne. Sin is heavy, no doubt about it. But His grace laughs at its weight and lifts the weary. The Child of Advent didn’t just come to live among us; He came to set us free.

Prayer

Lord, I see the weight of my sin, and it humbles me. Thank You for carrying what I could not. Thank You for the grace that breaks every chain. Teach me to walk in the freedom You have won for me. Amen.

Action Point

Take time today to reflect on an area in your life where you feel the weight of sin. Pray and surrender it to Christ, thanking Him for His power to forgive and restore.