A Weary World Rejoices!

O Holy Night is my mom’s favorite Christmas song, (I love you, Mom!) so I have heard many renditions of it over the years! But this year, the phrase ‘a weary world rejoices’ stuck with me.

Here are the lyrics from the first verse:

O holy night the stars are brightly shining

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

The weary world rejoices. Why?

Christmas is a time of celebration for many people, but for some it brings sadness and memories that threaten to overwhelm the mind and soul. Weary. Tired. Ready for Christmas… to be over.

The beauty of the Christmas story and the Christmas season is the Christ of Christmas, because he brings HOPE!

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Creator God. The God who created the world, and said it was good! He created man and woman, and said they were VERY good!

He created them perfectly, and put them in a perfect world where they freely walked and talked with him in perfect harmony!

And then the first man and woman were tempted, and they sinned. Sin brought the curse of pain and suffering into the world. Since that day, every person to be born has experienced pain and suffering in one way or another.

We all sin, and we all suffer as a result of our own sin, (lying, stealing, adultery, etc.,) and the pain of others’ sin against us (betrayal, abuse, rape, violence, etc.)

Our sin brings upon us a death sentence. The wages of sin is death. We owe a debt that we must pay with our lives.

BUT God’s love for us is so great that he sent Jesus, his only son, to be born on earth. In a stable. Wrapped in swaddling clothes. He knows our need; to our weakness is no stranger. Perfect, without sin. Fully man, and yet fully God.

To live and then to die on the cross to pay the debt we cannot pay. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid for the sins of the whole world. For your sins, and for mine!

The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ! It is offered to us freely if we will only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and confess our sins!

And it doesn’t stop there! Jesus’ birth brought a thrill of hope because Jesus IS hope! In him, we can have life, and joy, and peace. Jesus gives worth to the worthless, joy to the sorrowful, and peace to the distressed.

Truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His gospel is peace

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His name all oppression shall cease

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we

Let all within us praise His holy name

Jesus is coming again, and that brings us hope! Yes, we have pain and suffering now, but there will be a day when He will rule and reign on this earth! There will be no more pain, no more sorrow, and no more night! This weary world can rejoice, because we have hope in Christ!

Do you have hope? Let’s share it this Christmas!