The 12 Days of Christmas—Days 2 and 3

“On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two turtledoves…”

The two turtledoves that the song references are the two Testaments, or Covenants that we find the in Bible…the Old Covenant (Testament) and the New Covenant (Testament). These are distinct in some ways and similar in some ways. Let’s look at the similarities:

The Old and New Covenants are similar in that they both have their origins from the Lord Almighty. In the Old Covenant, God the Father initiated contact with Abraham, He initiated life itself when He created the world, and He initiated the Covenant with Israel through the Law of Moses and throughout the history of the nation of Israel. In the New Covenant, God the Father initiates contact with the waiting world by the sending of His Son, Jesus through the virgin birth.

God’s initiation of the Covenants means much to us. It means that He is not separated from His creation. It means that He cares about that which He has created, and He loves each of us. His love for us burdened Him to send His Son so that we might have relationship with Him. If anything, these two Covenants tell us that God is not finished with either Israel, or the rest of mankind…not yet. And so, we must remember Him for Who He is!

“On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, three French hens…”

These three represent the final three things that remain following the coming of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul states that prophecies, tongues, and special knowledge will all pass away. But the three things that will remain are faith, hope and love. These are what are represented by the three French hens.

Faith, the belief in and placing trust in another person or thing, is what brings us to God. We place our faith in Him and He is the one who brings about the changes in us.

Hope, in Biblical terms, is not a wish that something will happen, but rather a guaranteed future blessing that we are confident in and waiting for. Therefore, when we hope in the Lord, we know that He is coming for us, and that we do not need to fear like the rest of those who do not have this same hope.

And love is that which will never fail. It is, as 1 Corinthians 13 states, never failing and the greatest of the three. When there is love, there is purpose, there is commitment, there is perseverance, there is decency, there is protection, and many other things. We know that the love of Jesus caused Him to give up His rights as God and become like one of us so that we might have the opportunity to live with Him forever. What a blessing.

Now live this out today, and we’ll see you on Sunday!