Rejoice! There Is a Thrill of Hope Coming!

Nothing gets one more in the mood for Christmas than Christmas carols. One of my favorite songs has always been, “O Holy Night.” (You can listen to it and read the lyrics here.) This carol fits in today’s world so perfectly, as evidenced by the first stanza:

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 appear’d and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, THE WEARY WORLD REJOICES,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Hmmm… the weary world…

The news these days can be so depressing and disheartening. We have the threat of WWIII… unrest in our own country with constant protests and a growing balkanization …vile language spewed back and forth between political parties and their supporters …fires, floods, and other natural disasters devastating communities …Catholic churches being vandalized …and immoral acts that were once considered depraved now being endorsed by a godless culture. 

A weary world indeed!

And so in today’s weariness, we “rejoice!” There is a “thrill of hope!” Christmas is when our Almighty God chose to descend into our broken world and become one of us. Think about it; that’s incredible! God becomes man, enters our dark, weary world, and is our light in the darkness! 

The birth of Jesus Christ and the story of his incredible life – and death…and life again –  forever changed the course of human history. Every year at Christmas time for the past 2,000 years, Christians have recognized that the real spirit of Christmas is not what we have or what we place under the tree; it’s about who we are. Each one of us is a child of God, and that is the true source of joy.

To show our gratefulness and love to God for making us His children, our gift back to Him is to “know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him”- not just on Christmas day but on all the other 364 days of the year. 

I want to wish you a joyous Christmas! May you and yours realize there is a thrill of hope for our weary world, as soon we can rejoice in the birth of our Savior and in the future we can “be happy with Him forever.”