Not just a four-week message
There is something special about Christmas music for me. I know there are some who think it should only be listened to after Thanksgiving. If you are around at various times throughout the year, you will find Christmas music playing as I study. There is something special about the songs that remind me just how much God loves me that He would send His Son as a baby for the purpose of redeeming me.
The “good tidings of great joy” spoken of by the angels are not for a short four-week period, but for every minute of every day of the year. The message that the long-awaited Messiah has arrived should not be relegated to a news cycle, but proclaimed over and over, for there is no other headline that can eclipse this news until HE IS RISEN occurs. The music of these two events dominates my playlists, both filling me with hope and joy because I have a great Lord and Savior. My least favorite Christmas song has nothing to do with the message, for I wholeheartedly agree and try to live out “Go Tell It On the Mountain.” The status of least favorite is the experience in middle and high school choir where we sang this song almost every year. The method of presentation was off-putting, but the message is spot-on!
I would be hard pressed to name a single favorite. I would have to select from the First Noel, Hallelujah Chorus, the Rebel Jesus, the Little Drummer Boy, Born to Die, Great Things, There is Room for You Here, Immanuel (these last three by Melanie Penn), O Come, All You Unfaithful. And the list could go on as my Spotify Christmas list has over 11 hours of songs in it. One characteristic of all of them is the great joy and hope of His coming and my great need for Him to come for me. This is a message I need to hear more than four weeks out of the year.
May the songs of Christmas, the coming of the Savior lighten and brighten your days (whether for four weeks or all year long)! So, what is your favorite or least favorite, and why?
Pressing On…
Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor
