In this next to last day in our series, I’m going to cover a couple of songs that fit really well with Christmas Eve – especially this night.
Of course, there are songs that talk about all that Santa has to do and what not, but those are not the ones I’m talking about.
The songs I would like to focus on are the songs that talk about just how holy this night is. Yes, I recognize that tomorrow is not the actual day that Jesus was born. While that may be true, it is the time we set aside to celebrate Christ’s birth. So tonight we also celebrate the events of the night that Christ was born.
Today’s songs are also two that are very sentimental and nostalgic for me. Let me tell you why.
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, was one of the songs we sang in the IWU Chorale. It was one of the simplest of the songs we sang, yet it was so beautiful and dynamic. It was a joy to sing and listen to. Unfortunately, I can’t put our recording in this post as I don’t have permission to do so, however. If you listen to the Spotify playlist you will hear the same arrangement with a different musical interpretation. It’s not as good as ours was, but you’ll get the idea.
Another favorite of mine that we sang in chorale was Give Me Jesus.
The real gem for Christmas eve is O Holy Night. It’s the song you expect to hear at any church’s Christmas eve service. The personal connection with this song and our family is that I made a promise to my wife that I would sing this song for her every year at Christmas. So far, I have been able to keep that promise. The way I’ll be keeping this promise this year is through you and all the people who have listened to and purchased my CD. As you listen, you are helping me keep my promise of singing this song for her every year. I may not have a job or a stage I can sing this from this year, but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep my promise. We will also listen to this recording at some point during our evening tonight.
As we all listen to this and all these songs together, we can remember that we have been given a great gift – the greatest gift that has ever been given – the gift of Christmas. It’s a gift that can’t be compared to any other gift. Even if you saved every penny you ever made in your life, you could not purchase a gift that comes close in comparison. You will never deserve this gift, yet you can still have it. You will never earn this gift. There is nothing you will be able to do that will be equal to this gift.
That’s what makes this gift of Christmas so amazing. There is no reason we should get it, yet we all have access to it. So, this Christmas as you tear open the presents in the morning, and watch the joy in your children’s eyes, remember that Christmas is amazing because “God Himself became a man,” “He wrote Himself into the story and became it’s central character” so that we could have a savior who knows all that we go through. Wherever you find yourself this Christmas, whether rich or poor, weak or strong, hopeful or broken, you have a savior who loved you enough to give his life for you.
Celebrate that!
And, for just a short time, I’m giving away one of the songs from my CD. And yes it is O Holy Night! So, all you have to do is right-click on this link and save the mp3 on your computer somewhere you can find it! Thanks for helping me keep my promise!
(If you’d like to read the other days, you can do so by clicking here. Don’t forget I’m making a playlist in Spotify as we go through this series, you can subscribe to here.)
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