Jesse tree

Starting on December 1st with an empty banner or tree, a reminder ornament is hung each day until Christmas Day when the Christ child in the manger and star are placed at the top. A Bible verse is read, and the story reviewed. These devotions allow time every day for sharing with your children, or meditating with God's Word on your own.

We started our Jesse Tree family devotions over fifteen years ago, and have used it with children from infancy to age 25. It has helped us focus on God, and has become the most meaningful tradition of the season. You too can make the Jesse Tree a tradition that can come to be the most memorable part of the season.

Jesse was the father of King David. The idea of the Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1-9, where God promises a discouraged nation that the glory they remember from David’s time will come again. They will have another king from Jesse’s family, in whose reign the whole earth will know God. As a Christian, we see that promise fulfilled in Jesus, and so we use a Jesse Tree and decorate it with reminders of how God prepared the world for that kingdom.