o come let us adore Him

Do you ever feel like you’ve just lost the wonder of Christmas? Maybe it’s because of the weariness or the busyness. Or maybe Christmas has just become another event to you. You just love the Christmas gatherings and spending time with family and friends, but you fail to focus on who God is and what the birth of His son Jesus means to you personally. It means everything! And it should change everything about how we celebrate. Listen to this familiar part of the Christmas story from Luke 2,

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

Doesn’t it make you want to be there and join them on that holy night in Bethlehem, adoring our Savior? I looked up the word “adore” and the Merriam-Webster definition is “to regard with loving admiration and devotion”. To adore is to love dearly, be devoted to, cherish, treasure, prize, and think the world of. These are the same words that come to mind as I think about how the shepherds dropped everything and hurried to Bethlehem, how they must have gazed at baby Jesus with great wonder and awe knowing he was the Promised One in whom they all had been waiting for, and how they told everyone about what they had seen and heard. Or how Mary soaked in every moment and treasured all that was happening in her heart.

We adore what is most precious to us. We aren’t in Bethlehem with the shepherds but we are still invited to come and adore Jesus. Our adoration is shown as we spend time in God’s Word even when life gets busy, showing that we need Him to shape our thoughts and our actions. It’s shown in the midst of our weariness as we chose to trust and praise Him even when it’s hard. And it’s shown as we celebrate Christmas focusing less and less on ourselves and more and more on our Savior. He is worthy to be first in our lives. So, come let us “Adore Him!” this Christmas season and always.