My husband and I recently attended a Christmas concert at the symphony with some friends. We enjoyed everything from jazzy versions of Christmas carols to selections from “The Nutcracker” to hand bell choir arrangements to beautiful sacred music sung in Latin. At the end of the concert, the conductor led us in a sing-along of popular Christmas songs. We had fun singing along as Santa came to visit and fake snow fell from the ceiling. I couldn’t help but chuckle as we sang about “what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh”, although none of us in our group had actually ever done just that. And we heartily agreed that “we won’t go until we get some” figgy pudding, which I have never tasted. We sing these songs every year, and we know every word. I love Christmas music, and it is a beautiful part of our yearly celebrations.

My favorite Christmas carol is “O Come All Ye Faithful”, and I want us to slow down for a minute and ponder the words of the first verse:

“O Come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem;

Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”

I want to unpack this and think about what it means. The first line calls out to the faithful, to those who put their hope in God. The faithful are called to come, joyfully and triumphantly. The song calls us to action, to come!

Line 2 explains where we are going when we come. Come to Bethlehem. This could be another Christmas song where I sing about an experience I’ve never had, but I see a figurative meaning in this line. Bethlehem is the place where Christ was born, where God came to earth. Come to the place where it all began, where God showed His love by coming to be with us. Slow down for a minute and come to meet Him.

Come and behold Him, born the King of angels. We could easily skip over the old English word, behold. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “behold” as: to gaze at, look upon, used to express amazement. Take a slow, long look. Gaze at Him. Study Him with your “eyes”. Are you amazed when you see His love, His goodness, His power? He was born the King of angels. He left the heights of His throne in Heaven to be born a poor baby that would forever change the world. He was, is, and always will be the King.

O come, let us adore Him. Repeated three times, this is the climax of the song. When we take action to come to meet Him, and we gaze upon Him, and we see Him as King, how can we do anything but adore Him? He is the “darling of Heaven”, the hope of all nations, God with us.

“God with us” is also Christ the Lord. He came as a humble baby, identified with us in our weaknesses, suffered on our behalf, then left as the resurrected Lord. That is why and how we come faithfully, joyfully and triumphantly. He is bigger than any struggle we face, whether we’ve made our own mess or someone else has hurt us. He is Christ the Lord.

My wish for you is that you will enjoy the holiday season. That you will love and be loved, that you will enjoy all the wonderful traditions at this time of year. Maybe you will even get to eat some figgy pudding or ride on a one-horse open sleigh. (If you do, please tell me all about it!) I also hope that you will look for and find those moments to take action and come. Come to Bethlehem to meet with Him. Come to gaze on His beauty. Come and adore Him. He is the King of angels and He is Christ the Lord.

Merry Christmas!

Pam Mueller

View More Articles By This Author