As a kid, I grew up loving the book The Twelve Days of Christmas by Anne Geddes. The book sat on a table in our living room, and even back then I recognized there wasn’t anything more adorable than a baby dressed up as a partridge or eight babies sitting in milk buckets with little ruffled caps on their heads.
Maybe you know “Twelve Days of Christmas” better through the classic holiday song, or you know of its roots in Christian theology where people celebrate the 12 days after Christmas. All of these versions are as festive as the next, but this year I thought it might be nice to use the 12 days of Christmas leading up to December 25 to focus on the Savior and the story of His birth. So I’ve come up with a study guide for the occasion. Here’s how it works:
For each day leading up to Christmas, there’s one topic to study. First, read through a brief summary of the verses to get yourself familiar with the context. Next is a quick look of what we can learn from those verses followed by a few extra resources to inspire you and help make your study a little more in depth. If you have the time, feel free to write down any thoughts or promptings you might have.
Don’t have time to read all 12 days? You can check in on whatever day you do have time for. The days aren’t specifically connected to one another—they simply highlight a verse or two from different chapters of scripture, so if you miss a day you don’t have to worry about catching up.
Whatever you are going through this Christmas season, and wherever you may be, it is my hope that these 12 days of Christmas bring a little more light into your life as you draw closer to the Savior and reflect on His birth. May it also give you the opportunity to reflect on your own testimony of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, who is the light, the life, and the hope of the world.
12 Days of Christmas
- Day 1: ‘Fear not’
- Day 2: ‘For with God nothing shall be impossible’
- Day 3: ‘Joseph … did as the angel had bidden him’
- Day 4: ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews?’
- Day 5: ‘Let us now go’
- Day 6: ‘Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart’
- Day 7: ‘He came by the Spirit into the temple’
- Day 8: ‘She … departed not from the temple’
- Day 9: ‘They did watch steadfastly’
- Day 10: ‘He went out … and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people’
- Day 11: ‘It had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit’
- Day 12: ‘Knowest thou the condescension of God?’
