Rejoice!

7 O come, O King of nations, bind

in one the hearts of all mankind.

Bid all our sad divisions cease

and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain

Refrain:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

shall come to you, O Israel.

Advent is all but done…Christmas is almost here…once again, it has gone way too fast.  My good intentions of spending an Advent laser-focused on Christ succeeded in part, but in other, many others, it failed…sigh…but here we are.  And we Rejoice! No matter what…

Today as I take a look at the last stanza of O Come, O Come, Immanuel, I can´t help but to, indeed, rejoice for these verses talk to us exactly about what we need in this great nation of ours: unity and peace.  In times of deep division, distress and confusion, we find ourselves nervously threading on new paths that seem dauntlessly dangerous and fearfully uncertain.  We are not sure what the future holds for us as a society and as a nation…not that we could ever be sure, but today, it is hard to imagine what is ahead for us.  I find everything so scary, that I don´t even watch the news anymore. 

I know that sounds flaky to say that I stay away from the news, but I need to block as much stress as possible from entering and cluttering my soul…I need the space for Christ.  So these verses bring me back to a place of hope.  He is the King of all nations, and He is the only one who can bind us together and put an end to our divisions…He is the only one who can bring us everlasting peace…So today, let us REJOICE in this truth.  Let us lift up our hearts to Him, the King of Peace and the God who decided to leave Heaven to come and dwell with us in this lonely planet…to be Our Beloved and Glorious Immanuel.