Worship - the true spirit of Christmas
Ngamlal Doungel *
What is the true spirit of Christmas?
Well, we will find out what the spirit of Christmas really is if we read some selected reactions to the birth of Christ among people and angels in the Bible - Luke Chapter 1 and 2.
Elizabeth (Luke 1:41), Zacharias (Luke 1:67), Angels (Luke 2:13), Shepherds (Luke 2:20), Simeon (Luke 2:25), Anna Luke 2:36) - these people basically had one response.
And that one response is the spirit of Christmas and the right word is 'Worship'. The spirit of Christmas in all those participants in the first Christmas was praise and thanks and blessing and glory to God.
In a word, that is worship. When we talk about Christmas, we just cannot leave some folks out. The second verse of Matthew Chapter 2 tells us that the wise men came from the east and said, "We are come to worship him".
Even wicked Herod picked up the spirit of the event and he asked where the child was born, he said "That I may come and worship Him also..." Everybody was worshipping. That is the spirit of Christmas. And though Herod told a lie, he did understand the appropriate attitude to worship.
This is the spirit of Christmas and it is the supreme time of worship for Christians as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour. Worship is an attitude. It is a spirit, something on the inside.
It is an attitude of the heart that is so filled with wonder and gratitude at what God has done for us that we lose ourselves in adoring worship and adoring praise. What better time for this than Christmas when we focus on the very giving of Christ who is our Lord and Saviour.
It was John Francis Wade who summed it all up in simple words, "O come, let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord".
* Ngamlal Doungel wrote this article for The Sangai Express . This was webcasted on December 25th, 2009.
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