As our world seems to be growing spiritually darker all the time plagued with anti-Christian fervor, moral reversals, injustice and terrorism abounding, the spiritual blessings of Christmas are brought to light in this carol - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. (If you watch the YouTube version below, a great history is presented along with the full lyrics - even if the recording only plays 3 of the 4 verses written out with the text of the video.) This particular song resonates with the heart that feels oppressed and seeks redemption and release. The lyrics are about the spiritual oppression of sin and the release that God has wrought through His Son, Jesus Christ as the Bible so clearly teaches. The minor key and happy rhythm reflect this oppression/freedom theme very well. Indeed, the carol is mentioned by Charles Dickens in "The Christmas Carol."(1) By the way, the link referenced below also includes far more verses than the YouTube video does. They will bless you, too! Do you ever feel like your sin has separated you from God? Does He seem a long ways off? Let this carol lift your hearts as you contemplate what God has done that first Christmas for you today. He has paid the price, sent His Son, and redeemed you from your sin. Satan has no more power over you if you will but allow Jesus to rule you instead! Jesus has overcome Satan! Let this be "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" - comfort for those times your feelings need reminded that Satan is powerless, and joy to last an eternity because of the freedom you now have been given through Jesus Christ! Now, as the Carol invites, sing praises to God for He has done this wonderful thing! Praise Him for His love and care - and invite all you know to join in the chorus of praise! Sing this carol together this Christmas and celebrate!
And that's Just A Thot for today! Merry Christmas!!
When it comes to Christian music, interestingly enough, the tune (melody) is not always originally “Christian.” Sometimes tunes are borrowed and new words (Christian lyrics) are sung instead of the secular lyrics. Today’s Christmas Carol – “Carol of the Bells” – is one such song.
“Composed by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (1877-1921) in 1916. Originally titled Shchedryk, this Ukrainian folk song is about a sparrow and the bountiful year that awaits a family. It was first performed in the Ukraine on the night of January 13, 1916, on the Julian calendar this is considered New Year's Eve. In the United States the song was first performed on October 5, 1921 at Carnegie Hall.[1]”
Originally, the song was sung in April as a welcome to Spring. Girls would go house to house singing the well-wishing song in exchange for baked goods. When the world (including the Ukraine) switched to the Julian calendar (the one we use now) this spring song was sung as a New Year’s song.[2]
The words were changed to Christian words – the lyrics we know today.
"Peter J. Wilhousky (1902-1978) wrote these new lyrics based on the melody of Shchedryk in 1936. He copyrighted it and the song is what we now know as "Carol of the Bells." As the title implies, this hauntingly beautiful song is about the sound of bells come Christmas time."
Lyrics (Excerpt): Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say, throw cares away
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer, to young and old, meek and the bold, …1
DEVOTION
Wishing one another a Merry Christmas in such a way as to allow the meaning of Christmas and the love of the season to “ring on” in our minds is a true blessing as we live in a day when it seems evil crowds out peace. Carol of the Bells is a beautiful way to share Christmas with one another. The full lyrics conclude with the following lines:
The four notes live long in our ears after they have actually stopped striking our eardrums.
They penetrate to our hearts a sense of joy and hope when the Christian lyrics are hung upon them. Our hope that Christ’s coming will cheer our hearts with hope in a hauntingly dark world seems to swell within us.
It is not so much that the song fills us with false hope in Christ, but that the song stirs within us a real hope based on a True Savior who has, as the Angel Host in Luke 2:14 proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” It should move us as it did the Shepherds that day to proclaim to everyone the great thing God has done for us all!
And that’s Just A Thot for today. “Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!”
Bible Reading:Philippians 2:15 - That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
I love to camp. One of the essential tools for use while camping is a flashlight. One would like to have a light that worked - and worked well. Have you ever used a flashlight whose batteries were about dead? The dim, yellow light hardly did the trick in the tent - but on the trail or in the campsight, it was useless. That is why fresh, quality batteries, and a good flashlight is so important.
We are the flashlights in our dark world. Light has many uses. Christ wants to use the Light of Heaven which reflects off of us to accomplish a great work on earth in the hearts and lives of mankind.
1. Light is used for guidance. Those in the dark are not the enemy, they are there for us to help, bringing them the Word of Life, pointing sinners to the Savior, and to the place where their hearts can find the peace it craves. We need to be ready to help people understand their Bibles, like Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch.
2. Light is used for revealing things. The Light that we reflect should reveal our faith so clearly that no one could possibly doubt our allegiance to Christ. In a week with us, another should KNOW the gospel, KNOW whom we serve, and KNOW who Christ is.
3. Light is used for warning. Life offers a rock on which the waves are sure to dash the lost and helpless to their destruction. Many false lights exist that lead them right upon these rocks. The true and bright light is needed. Sin and its tempting pleasures need a Christian's light to show them the way they are headed and the way they should be going.
4. Light is used for cheering. Nothing is so comforting in a dark world as light. Christians should offer comfort, kindness, and sympathy always.
Thank the Lord today that you can be this light with His help. Live in His light, and your light will be His, shining all about you, accomplishing all of this as naturally as breathing. What a marvel!
