Read Luke 1:57–80
‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David…’ (vv68–69) Many people love singing their favourite carols and songs at Christmas. As we go about our day-to-day tasks – at home, in the shopping centres – songs of Christmas celebration can often be heard ringing out.
Of course, for God’s people, the focus should always be on the One in whose name we celebrate Christmas in the first place – Jesus.
Christmas is a great opportunity for us to share with those around us why we love this season, and perhaps why a certain carol means so much to us. Indeed, many carols contain great truths of God’s love and redemption.
In Luke chapter 1, once Zechariah the priest’s voice returned, the first thing he did was sing to the Lord, ‘praising God’ (v64).
Like Mary’s song earlier in the chapter, Zechariah’s song also reminds us of the great truths we are called to celebrate. He is our redeemer (v68), the source of our salvation (v69), the promised one (v70), our deliverer (v71), a merciful, promise-keeping God (vv72–73), our rescuer (v74) who is holy and righteous (v75).
We can easily become over familiar with Christmas carols, perhaps they may even lose their appeal to us.
Yet many of the songs we sing at Christmas will contain several of these elements of truth. May we never tire of these ‘repeating songs’.
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, may we never tire of singing your eternal truths. Amen.’
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
Think about a favourite carol – what truths of God does it contain?
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
Deut. 32:1–4; Psalm 9:1–20; Psalm 30:1–12;
Phil. 4:4–9
