Tag Archives: Christmas joy

The Christmas gift of joy

 

 

 

Joy to the world, The Lord has come! Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing!

 

“Joy to the world” is a hallmark of the arrival of Christmas. But we might forget why the whole earth should rejoice. We might find that joy eludes us in the darkness of our lives, even at Christmas. For some Christmas is the darkest season, scarred by past memories that continue to cloud the light of joy in their lives. But even in that dark place, perhaps especially in that darkness, there is cause for certain joy.

 

Just as a family awaits the birth of a newborn child, the world waited for the birth of the Christ child. Shepherds were watching. Wise men were seeking. Paul describes creation as “groaning as in the pains of childbirth” for the Messiah Lord to be revealed not only to us, but IN us. (Romans 8:19-25)

 

Troubles continued but “Joy to the World, The Lord has come!”

 

Let earth receive her King. Jesus didn’t arrive in the manner accustomed to kings, nor did everyone receive him as King, then or today. But there is certain joy promised to those who do. To those who realize that Jesus is king at all times, when things seem good, and to when we are suffering.

 

Let everyone prepare Him room. There was no room for Him in the inn. Is there room for Him in your heart? Jesus proclaimed, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.” John says that Jesus IS the Word. If we have no room in our lives for receiving and obeying His Word, where will we find true and lasting joy?

 

The gift of Christmas joy isn’t stifled by a messy manger. It isn’t subdued by past hurts or present circumstances. Joy is found in what we’ve already been given and in the anticipation of things yet to come.

 

Let your life proclaim, “Joy to the world, The Lord has come!”
Receive the gift of christmas Joy and remember, joy grows when we share it with others.