“Joy to the World, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing.”
--“Joy to the World,” Isaac Watts
I remember the year Santa brought me a Scottish Cabbage
Patch Kid doll. And the year I got my very own roller skates. And the year Mom
and Dad gave me a French racing bike they had spent months refurbishing. Of
course, I no longer own any of those items, but I remember how happy I was the
Christmas mornings I found them by the tree. But like all material possessions,
even my favorite things could only bring me temporary contentment and pleasure.
Mom taught me and my sister that lesson many years ago when she made the distinction
between happiness and joy. She told us happiness is temporary and based on our
feelings, but joy is eternal and springs from God’s spirit and His promises.
Every Christmas I feel that deep joy when I read Luke’s
account of the angel messengers who jubilantly declared the news of Jesus’ birth
2,000 years ago.
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ ” (Luke 2: 8-11, emphasis mine).
For thousands of years Israel had waited for God to send a deliverer to their nation. But instead, due to His expansive and inclusive vision, God sent a Savior for not only Israel, but the entire world. There can be no greater “good tidings” at Christmas than the message that God loves each of us so much He became Emmanuel, “God with us,” and entered our world so that ultimately through His sacrifice, we can enter His.
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ ” (Luke 2: 8-11, emphasis mine).
For thousands of years Israel had waited for God to send a deliverer to their nation. But instead, due to His expansive and inclusive vision, God sent a Savior for not only Israel, but the entire world. There can be no greater “good tidings” at Christmas than the message that God loves each of us so much He became Emmanuel, “God with us,” and entered our world so that ultimately through His sacrifice, we can enter His.
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