Saturday, December 10, 2022

O Come, O Come Emmanuel



By: Melanie Moore


One of my favorite Christmas carols is "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". It has a hauntingly beautiful melody, often song softly with a deep yearning. The first verse says:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here,

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

This song resonates with my soul as I long for Jesus to come back. I feel the emotion behind those held in captivity, longing and mourning in exile for God to appear to them. If we watch the news now, we see the trouble in the world around us. We are faced with death, sickness, crime, despair, loss, fear, and worry.

Jesus, come quickly, we pray...

I feel a longing for God to make all things right and to rescue us from our captivity here. We trust that He will, and God has promises He will never leave us or forsake us so we can take him at his word.

However, as I sang this song, I noticed something I had never paused to consider before. The chorus says "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

We are reminded to rejoice before God appears. There is purpose in our waiting, and it is not to wring our hands in worry and look to the sky for deliverance. We are to rejoice in the waiting, and rest in God's promises. Even before Jesus comes back, we can be joyful because we know He is coming back, he will keep his promises, and he is working in our waiting.

I pray this Christmas will be a reminder to you that just as Jesus came to earth the first time, He will come back. We can have peace and hope in each day as we wait for his perfect timing. 

Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel will come (again) to you just as he said.



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