We hear the same Christmas carols, year after year, to the point where we barely have to engage our brains to recite the familiar choruses.
Most everyone has their favorite carol, and mine just happens to be “O Holy Night.”
Recently, at the Christmas chapel for the BGCO (Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma), we had the privilege of singing my favorite Christmas carol together as a form of worship.
We were encouraged to really examine the words that we so often sing without giving a second thought, and this made me all the more excited because the lyrics to “O Holy Night” are why the song is my favorite.
The lyrics are powerful and filled with a poetic Gospel presentation and reminders of what kind of people God has called us to be, a lifestyle which we should follow.
I encourage you to read the lyrics below and meditate on them for a moment…
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
Possibly my favorite lines of the entire song are “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”
I feel like these lines directly apply to the world today. Long have we laid in sin and error, pining for something more.
You see it everywhere you go—in advertising, in casual conversation and perhaps even in your own dreams. We are created to want something more, but that something isn’t anything with monetary value. That something, or rather someone, is Jesus.
When He appeared for the first time, “the soul felt its worth,” and again, when He appears for the second coming, what a glorious day it will be for those who call themselves Christians when we join with Him in Heaven.
Until that day, we have “a thrill of hope,” that we should be screaming from the mountain tops. The weary world needs the hope of a Savior, who has promised us as believers eternal life. When we proclaim the Gospel to the weary world, we give them something to rejoice about, a new found hope in Him as our Lord and savior!
A new and glorious morn is coming, my friends. As we urgently flock to the stores to ensure we find just the right Christmas gift, or as we flock to our homes to make sure we are in time for the Christmas celebration, we should flock to share the good news of the Gospel to the weary world that is waiting for Good News about which they can rejoice.
I challenge you, look at the lyrics of your favorite Christmas carol and wait for God to open your eyes to a new way of life. You won’t regret it!