Christmas is over, the new year is a few short days away. If your family is like mine you have already begun the process of tearing down decorations, tossing out gift boxes, eating the last few cookies and putting away your new clothes and gifts. Part of this post-holiday slump is the disappearance of Christmas music from the air. I don't know about you but i love the stuff. So much in fact that each year i have to dump a large portion of the music from my iPod to make room for the ridiculous amount of holiday favorites that i have on shuffle for a few weeks.
All that to say that this year one song really touched my heart. It is an old song that i am sure you have heard many times throughout the years. "O Holy Night" has been performed by countless artists in many different ways and will forever be a beloved classic. It was only this Christmas season, today actually, ...that a line from that old song really stood out and challenged me.
"A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born"
A thrill of hope...
I don't know about you but i don't always describe my hope in the Lord as "thrilling". I am thankful and blessed beyond measure. I love the Lord and am honored to get to be His servant in my life and ministry, but the thought of making sure that I still see my salvation as thrilling after 11 years in the faith really challenges me.
Where is that thrill?
The writer of "O Holy Night" was pointing to the fact that Jesus's coming was a thrilling experience for the multitudes who were awaiting their king and savior. They were in bondage, broken, needy, weary and were able to rejoice in the thrilling hope that a savior was coming to change their world.
Maybe you had that thrill once... At one point in your life you were lost, broken, weary and needed someone to come and save you. Jesus came into your life and changed everything; or maybe you haven't had that experience yet, but the hope of a new future is a thrill to you.
In psalm 51:12 the psalmist prays that the Lord would return the joy of His salvation.
In this new year may we all be able to return to the joy we once had in the fact that we have salvation and may we once again know the thrill of hope...
