Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

 

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

 

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as, the curse is found.

 

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders, of His love.

I have been led by the Holy Spirit to sing “Joy to the World” all week. This lovely Christmas Carol, written by Isaac Watts in 1719, is based on Psalm 98. For me, it summarises the true meaning of Christmas, just as John 3:16 does.

John 3:16 in the Amplified Bible says, “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He (even) gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”

Isn’t that fantastic? I love the fact that God thinks so much of me, yes even me a sinner, that He sent his only begotten son to save me. He loves you as well, and Jesus came to save you too. You just have to “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (according to Acts 16:31).

We are nearing the close of an unusual year when things that you could never have imagined ever happening, have happened. Who would have expected British Citizens to vote in a referendum to leave the European Union? Who would have guessed a property magnate would be elected to become President of the USA? And who would have thought a few  years ago that today more of us (55%) would be shopping online rather than going to stores? But despite all of this uncertainty and change, we can be comforted by the fact that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (according to Hebrews 13: 8 in the NLT).

I pray that you may know the joy of the true meaning of Merry Christmas and accept God’s precious gift to us, “His only begotten son,” so you can be saved and be certain of everlasting life!

Merry Christmas!