Christmas Devotionals For FamiliesНамуна

Joy to the World

Did you know that the classic Christmas song, "Joy to the World," was inspired by Psalm 98? Isaac Watts penned those famous lines nearly 300 years ago in 1719. But if you look closer, you'll see that Psalm 98 actually refers to the second coming of Christ, not his birth in Bethlehem.

While the lyrics can be applied to his first coming, how does that change how you look at the wording knowing they were penned looking toward that second coming? I love the last verse:

"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."

Where do you see the “wonders of his love” this Christmas season? They're all around us. They are in the faces of your kids as they “help” make cookies, they are in the voices raised in song, they are in soft kisses of snow on your cheeks. 

In the words of Max Lucado, the wonders of his love are a picture of how close Christ comes to His people, to you. (From "He Lives Within You")

As we celebrate the first coming of Christ this season, let us also look forward to His second coming, when we will be surrounded by the wonders of His love for all eternity.