“God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and Joy
O tidings of comfort and joy”

I’ve always thought this song was a prayer for God to let us rest happily because Jesus came to save us from our sins. While this is a wonderful prayer, it was not the original meaning of the song. Once while preparing for a Sunday School lesson, I stumbled across this beautiful Christmas message.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen was written in the 15th century. In the language of the day, “Merry” did not mean “Happy”. It meant “Mighty” or “Strong”, as in “Merry Old England” and “Robin Hood and His Band of Merry Men”. “Eat, drink and be merry” meant something like “dine tonight for tomorrow we go to war”.

“Rest” did not mean to relax. It meant “Make”. Add a comma and the first line of the hymn says, “God Make You Mighty, Gentlemen”. Quite different, huh?

A Merry Christmas is not just about gifts and spending time with family and friends. It is not Santa Claus and all the cutesy things of Christmas. It is all about a Savior! And MIGHTY is the kind of Savior we have!

Jesus came to earth, born to a teenage girl and a carpenter in a stable. He was on a mission to carry the sins of all the world on His back (our sins), to do battle for us, to destroy Satan’s plans. He endured the greatest torture imaginable on the cross. He could have said, “They’re not worth it. I’m outta here.” (And He would have been right!)

But He saw you and me, and He would rather die than spend eternity without us. Because of His great love for us, He carried out His mission all the way to the end. nly because of His great love for us. Three days later, He conquered death. He arose and He lives forever. Because of His sacrifice, we can have eternal life if we accept Him as Lord and Savior.

So God does not want us to rest on our Christmas laurels. He has work for us to do. He wants us to show His love to others.

It is no coincidence that on three different occasions, the angels told Mary, Joseph and the shepherds not to be afraid. God does not want us to be afraid either. “Let nothing you dismay…” As mighty men and women of God, we can live our faith in front of those who do not believe. We can tell them that Jesus was born to die and that, in Him, we can live forever.

Dear Lord, Thank You for Your great love and for sending your Son Jesus to earth to save us from our sins. Through His incredible example, may we find compassion for others and boldness to share our faith. We love You! Amen

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, THE MIGHTY GOD, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Thank you for reading and sharing my blogpost today.

Here’s wishing you and your family a MIGHTY CHRISTMAS this year!!