Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Psalm 95:6
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him born the King of Angels. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
“O Come All Ye Faithful”, a hymn written sometime around the year 1743, is more than a Christmas carol, more than just another familiar song we hear throughout the month of December. “O Come All Ye Faithful” is an invitation. It reminds us to take our eyes off of ourselves and away from our habits of self-worship and striving. It reveals the emptiness and fruitlessness of our own purposes and puts God’s front and center. It places us right in the middle of the field with the shepherds, right in step with the wise men, and right next to that little wooden hay-filled “crib” where Jesus sleeps. The invitation of “O Come All Ye Faithful” is this:
Calling all you faithful servants of God! Show up, all who have chosen to follow Jesus! Not quietly or timidly or ashamedly, but show up joyfully as you celebrate the birth of your Lord! Show up proudly, not because of who you are, but because of who HE is. Proclaim the truth that the sweet Baby in that manger is God. Your God came down and humbled Himself to be WITH you. So kneel at that manger and take a long, close look at your Savior’s sweet face. He may be small, but His life and His heart are the biggest and the best ever. He was born a King—King of Angels, King of the World, King of us all!
Everyone loves to adore new babies, but before you can truly adore THIS Baby, you must lay down your plans and selfishness and pride, and bury them all right there in the hay of the stable. Then you can kneel at the manger and lose yourself in the adoration of your King, seeing Him and loving Him like you never have before. Love Him with the deepest awe for who He is and with genuine gratitude for what He has done. Adore Him with soul-filling, heart-transforming worship! When you leave behind who you think you are and surrender to all that Jesus IS, THAT is adoration fit for your God and your King. Before you celebrate Christmas tonight and tomorrow, accept the invitation to come adore Him, and spend some time at that manger with Jesus. I wish YOU—faithful, joyful, triumphant child of God—a very Merry Christmas! There will be no devotion tomorrow, but you will be too busy adoring Jesus to even notice. May the Lord bless you and your family this Christmas and always! You are prayed for and deeply loved!