Have you given your heart away yet? 🎶

Do you know it? That song that plays on radio stations around the world every year at Christmastime? I'm thinking of Wham!'s 1984 hit, "Last Christmas." Some turn up the radio full blast every time it plays, and others howl, "Not again!"

Why does this song, which actually has little to do with Christmas itself, have such great success? From experience with my own songs, I can tell you the most successful songs are the ones in which people find themselves.

So what are the lyrics to "Last Christmas"? "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away." Many listeners can identify with the sentiments of those words…the song is about unrequited love. Probably everyone has experienced something similar, and it hurts.

Perhaps the song does have more to do with Christmas than we thought. Jesus came into the world many years ago to give people His heart, but even before He was born, the world said, "We have no room for You."

"And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7, NKJV)

The popular song continues with the line, "This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special."

You, too, have the chance this year to give your heart to "Someone special"—to Jesus! He knows what it feels like to be unwelcome, yet He chose to stay on the Earth—out of love—until He finished the work that His Father had given Him. "'For God so loved the world…'" (See John 3:16, NKJV.)

So, the next time you hear "Last Christmas," I'd encourage you…perhaps don't immediately switch the station. Instead, ask yourself the question, "Have I given my heart to the right one? Have I given my heart to Jesus?"

You are a miracle!

Déborah

P.S. The texts of this reading come from the daily email A Miracle Every Day. If you would like to receive a daily encouragement and begin 2023 in daily reflection, I invite you to subscribe to A Miracle Every Day.