As we joyfully sing these wonderful Christmas songs, one of the dangers is that we get caught up in the nostalgia and fail to contemplate the words. In the new movie “The Grinch” that just came to theators, the first verse of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is repeated several times. Words like Jesus and Satan being sung in a clearly secular industry.
I think for many people the warm feelings surrounding Christmas make it easy to fail to consider what the words really mean and, in a theater, full of people who don’t know Jesus the song simply translates to “it’s a happy time of year.”
Even though we know the Savior, we know what Christmas is truly about, I believe we are susceptible to doing the same thing. Singing Christmas Carols filled with excitement for the season but failing to consider the meaning behind what we are saying. We can sometimes slip into worshiping Christmas rather than Jesus.
Consider the song God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. It is written in old English and often is misunderstood as speaking of merry, or happy, gentlemen. But that simply isn’t what the phrase means. Consider what the first verse might say in modern, albeit far less poetic language.
May God give generous rest to you people!
Don’t let your heart be distressed.
Because we know that Jesus our Savior was born on Christmas day.
He came to set us free from Satan’s power and slavery to this world, even though each of us has chosen sin over God.