I love Christmas carols. I have often shared about this during the Advent season. In the blog, on social media or if we’ve met IRL you are well aware. They draw me into worship, challenge and refine my theology and just transport me to a manger in Bethlehem in ways few things can.
I love them all but I do play favorites (see what I did there – they are songs and I play . . .) anyway.
I have been partial to O Come all Ye Faithful since before I could even understand all of the words. Before I could even really get what the chorus was calling me to:
O come let us adore him
O come let us adore him
O come let adore him
Christ the King
To adore Christ is to love, worship, honor and glorify him. Every time I sing this beautiful hymn I am reminded to come to Him from the places I have gone, places where I value what I should not more than Jesus. I am reminded to adore Him, above the idols I have come to place before Him.
What Child Is This is a recent favorite. I love the verse:
This, this is Christ the King,Whom shepherds guard and Angels singHaste, haste, to bring Him laud,The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Haste! I wonder, as I sing this, how often is my haste to bring praise to God? I hasten to do lot. To get my kids out the door on time in the morning, to make a meeting, to make a deadline. But how often do hasten to bring praise to Jesus? This song is a beautiful reminder to do just that.
O Holy Night resonates with me deeply. The third verse especially:
His law is love and His Gospel is PeaceChains shall He break, for the slave is our brotherAnd in His name, all oppression shall cease
This is what I know my faith to be about. Jesus came to bring peace, good news to the poor and set the oppressed free! (Luke 4:18). We are often a broken expression of this fundamental truth of our call, but I love being brought back to it, being reminded that Jesus did not remain a baby in a manger, but became a leader who preached God’s love, power and justice.
Joy to the world the Lord has come and we can rejoice because he remains here with us. May you live in this truth as you celebrate the rest of this Christmas season!
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