by guest contributor Valerie Morse
A Christmas Reflection
I love the Christmas season. I always have. The songs, the lights, the excitement in the air. Christmas carols fill our home as I go about my day. My favourite one is ‘Joy to the World’. From the loud opening exclamation of ‘Joy to the world! the Lord is come’ to the softness of that last pensive phrase ‘And the wonders, wonders of His love’.
It’s a song of proclamation and wonder…speaking of a past, present and future. Just like that old Christmas movie about Ebeneezer Scrooge, who experiences a Christmas past, Christmas present and a Christmas yet to come, this song transports us on a journey through time.
The song begins with rejoicing. The Lord has come! And so we celebrate with awesome wonder, the Lord, humbling himself and coming as a helpless babe. We ponder at the very thought of it. What happened so long ago…
And it speaks to the present…of hearts that will receive this good news. Instructing us in living. No matter the year one lives in. No matter the age or status of the individual who hears the story of his coming. ‘No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground.’ Or as the Book of Hebrews instructs us, …”throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…”(Hebrews 12:1) Prepare your hearts.
Throughout the ages. It’s been about the heart. The inner man. Some hearts rejoicing at the news of his coming to redeem us…while others, sceptical of the whole idea.
“And makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness.” Strange, the word ‘prove’. It conjures up the idea of testing. Throughout the ages, mankind has tested God. Questioned every aspect of his very existence. In vain. For He stands the test of time. There is nowhere the eye can look or the mind take in that can disprove his existence. Not that it hasn’t been attempted, and continues to be. As if it were all too good to be true. How could the human mind possibly take it all in?
We can’t. It is beyond our understanding…the wonders of his love…
And so we stand in awesome wonder at the manger…and then at the cross. And we make a decision. To believe that he came as a tiny baby in the past. To believe that he went to the cross for us. To believe that he indwells the hearts of those who receive him as Lord in the present. And to believe that in the future, he is coming again as our reigning King.
“Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King…”
