A Thrill of Hope
With Christmas around the corner, radio stations, department stores, and churches have already begun playing our favorite Christmas songs. Classics like, "Silent Night," "Let it Snow," and "I'll be Home for Christmas" seem to be running on repeat just about everywhere we go.
One of the most popular Christmas songs, "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," paints a picture of child-like hope, as "Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight."
What an image! These kids can't even fall asleep because, "They know that Santa's on his way." Someone is coming, and they can't wait for him to get here because of the gifts he will bring.
This is anticipation.
Expectation.
Hope.
Misplaced to be sure, but hope nonetheless.
In another Christmas song, one of my favorites, we see a much more beautiful and appropriate picture of child-like hope. In "O Holy Night," we see a sinful world waiting. They aren't waiting for Santa, but rather, for the Savior's birth. Then, light breaks through the darkness, the weary world finds reason to rejoice, "For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."
Jesus is born and the sinful, weary world experiences "A Thrill of Hope."
This is the hope weary families still need today; an expectation to see the Lord come and move within our homes...the anticipation of seeing Christ the Savior fill our families with rejoicing...a thrill of hope that waits for that new and glorious morning. And longing for that morning, we'll find it hard to sleep tonight.
Jonathan Williams is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries and the Senior Pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church of 44 nations located in Houston, TX. He and his wife are blessed with three wonderful children.
