O Holy Night...

So, Thanksgiving is over. I love it and am thankful for it buuut...we can officially begin the Christmas festivities with out the shame. If I'm being honest, I LOVE cheesy Christmas movies, you know, the hallmark classics with mostly bad acting. They're easy. You can watch them and not feel like you need to repent of all kinds of bad after. There is usually a cute little lesson learned and redemption of at least one character AND a love story all thrown onto a set of a winter wonderland. WHATS NOT TO LOVE?! I also started listening to Christmas music a bit prematurely as well. I'm not mad. It's just so good for 1,001 different reasons. They're classic. I can remember these songs for as long as I've been capable of remembering things. It feels good and comfortable. They always remind me of this time of year, which is my favorite. Its just a snuggly, feel good time (and less hot!). These songs are also talking about our Jesus and God's great love and the whole world is hearing about it whether they actually realize it or not. I do have a favorite though. I get a little choked up every time I listen to it. Can you guess? O Holy Night. So good. Let's talk about it. In the first verse the lyrics are "long lay the world in Sin and error pining." I just imagine our world, as is. So full of greed, selfishness, pride, envy, sickness and anger...people drowning in their heartache and pain with the weight of all of this on their souls, feeling like there is no good end or way out or up, prone in their misery, lost. "Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth." The feelings and joy that come to mind when I think of a soul feeling the worth of Jesus is unspeakable.  I'm tearing up as I write this. Imaging a soul that is so heavy and weary and week finally realizing there is hope, there is a way out. Finally feeling freedom and rest and ease. While those things may not manifest physically for so many people, they can all be a reality in and for our souls. There is a hope and a future. That someday when this world ends something so much greater waits. Jesus came to pay the price for the greed and envy and sickness. We no longer have to be separated from our God by the crap of this world. That realization makes the soul free! Can you imagine what it would be like for more of our world to feel His worth, the indescribable, insurmountable worth?! "A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices." I imagine people doubled over or prostrate on the floor lost in their sin and hurt raising their head once feeling the worth and freedom. That hope starts to form, slowly but surely. Moving through nations, spreading, people rising from the weariness of Sin. Weariness being replaced by a new sense of hope and joy. The bad no longer is eternal but temporary. There is HOPE. "For yonder breaks an new and glorious morning." People rising up! Seeing the Glory of the coming of the Lord. The night is over! The morning has come! The darkness has ended! The Son has risen. A new and glorious morning. "Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!" The goodness is overwhelming. Your knees cannot hold the weight or the glory of it all, you fall on them. The Angels can do nothing but sing aloud around you the goodness of redemption. This hope and glory breaks down walls of oppression and depression, that regardless of their existence there is an eternal answer. "O night divine, O night when Christ was born." The answer, Jesus, was born that night. That holy night when Christ was born was the beginning to the most beautiful redemption and salvation. From that night on nothing would be the same. The holy and divine night that brought God's grace and love to us, the answer. The night that Christ was born. I love this song. And will forever. Its the song of my hope. My eternal redemption.

What's your fave?