What’s On Your Mind?

Three weeks until Christmas…what’s on your mind? Is it your to-do-list? I know for me this time of year can get busy. I think of all the things I want to do; decorating, baking, gift giving, visiting friends and family, my to-do-list can get longer than the days left until Christmas. Are you the same way?

I want to share a gift with you that I received one Christmas many, many, years ago and I treasure it still today. Why is this gift so special? It altered the way I forevermore perceive Christmas—it’s my hope in sharing that it will impact you as well.

I was attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service at my home church, (by far one of my favorite things to do on Christmas Eve); we began as we always do, by singing familiar Christmas songs. Songs that I have sung since I was a young child—yet, something was different.

I recall the song vividly—Joy to the World. I began to cry as everyone was singing. Who cries when they sing Christmas songs? I do. (I can hear you laughing). It’s true. This particular year, for the first time, I actually understood what the words meant. I listened intently as we sang each verse. It was in that moment I realized I was no longer just reciting a Christmas song, but rather, I had embraced the gift of the Christmas message. My heart lit up with the revelation that we were actually singing about the true meaning of Christmas.

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come.”  The Lord has indeed come. I knew that in my head, but for so many years I was clueless to what that really meant. “Let earth receive her King.” Another wow-moment for me—Jesus is truly King.

Let’s just stop there…as I was singing this song along with hundreds of other people—family, friends, and strangers, I realized I had sung these words for years and never stopped to think about what I was singing. This year was different. I took notice of every word and realized that I was decreeing and declaring that Jesus is Lord and King—He came to bring joy, peace, and hope, into the world.

Once again the world has gotten it all wrong—we have been deceived into believing that one could celebrate Christmas without embracing Jesus as Lord and King. The Christmas season can easily be reduced to decorations, baking, gift giving, or even a time for family to gather together, (as important as all those things may be); it’s true beauty is in celebrating the joy that was released into the earth when a baby who was created to be King was born. One who would rule through His spirit living within His people, to spread peace in times of turmoil, and hope in the middle of uncertainty.

How do I know this to be true?  If all the other things we hold dear during the Christmas season were taken away, (and this year some of those have been stripped away), Christmas would still be Christmas because Jesus was born. Nothing has really changed.

What if, for the next three weeks leading to Christmas day, even in the midst of the chaos of 2020, we held onto the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas—“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV). How might this change our perspective this year?

Meditating on this truth will be the reminder of all that is constant and the wonderful hope we have for the future. It is up to us to believe and receive the most precious gift ever given.

What’s on your mind? I’m choosing to focus on the gift of Joy—wrapped in swaddling clothes, placed in a manager for the world to know the hope He brings. 

May the weeks to come be filled with joy as you focus your heart upon the One who never changes—For onto us a King has been given.

-Lucy Ann

Be sure to subscribe to my mailing list so we can stay connected!