Devotions 25-12-06

Today is Christmas and Lou is fixing Christmas dinner for just us this Christmas. We just arrived from the US less than two weeks ago and we still having a difficult time adjusting our clocks to Estonia time. We went to go to church on Sun but when we pulled out of our parking space the car died in the middle of the road and the next hour and a half was spent getting it running and out of the middle of the road. That was our Christmas eve event. We spend the rest of the evening getting ready for our little Christmas time together. We got our few presents opened and had a wonderful time talking and remembering our times with our family and friends from times past.

I woke up this morning thinking about how Christmas carols have ministered to me over the years. Even before I became a Christian I loved the songs of Christmas and sang them with vigor and knew most of them by heart. When I became a Christian I was amazed at how many Christians did not know the Christmas carols by heart. I often wondered why this was true. Maybe they were so busy with Christmas that they never took the time to think much about the words and maybe even the message that was in those words.

I was thinking this morning again what carols were my favorite. I guess I would begin with "O come all you faithful" another would be "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and we always ended with "Joy to the World". What are your favorites? Do you know them from memory? Really these are more than just Christmas songs. They are about the beginning of the earthly appearance of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ of God. I will close with the first and last verses of "O Come all You Faithful"

"O Come all you faithful joyful and triumphant, come you oh come you to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him born the King of angels. O come, let us adore Him, O come and let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."

"Yea, Lord, we greet You, Born this happy morning. Jesus, to You be all glory given; Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. O come, let us adore Him......."

I do wish you all a very blessed Christmas filled not with gifts only but something much more precious. You would come and adore the King of Kings and Lord of Lords for all ages past and all ages to come. That you would allow Him to be the King of your life from this day on. I am so grateful that I made this commitment to God 52 years ago. I pray that this coming year it would be more obvious to others around me that Jesus Christ is truly the King of my life.