For our Advent devotionals we are looking deeper at some of our favorite carols.
Today’s Scripture: I John 4:7-8
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Today’s Carol: Love Came Down at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas; Star and angel gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead, Love incarnate, Love divine;
Worship we our Jesus, But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token; Love be yours and love be mine;
Love to God and all men, Love for plea and gift and sign.
Today’s Devotional
This is a fairly obscure carol. You’re not going to hear it much on Christmas Radio! If you are not familiar with it, here is the version that is in our hymnal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIxpdcuAHJo There are also several other tunes out there with these lyrics.
It’s a simple carol but it packs an important message: Love came down at Christmas.
I remember once during a Children’s Message asking the kids what love looked like. They were stumped. I was looking for “my parent’s hug” or “my dog’s tail wagging” or something along those lines. But I got silence[BB1] . I should have known better than to ask a metaphorical question during a Children’s Message!
The truth is we don’t know what love looks like. But we know it when we see it – or maybe better: we know it when we feel it.
But this carol reminds us that maybe we DO know what love looks like. It looks like a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger. “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only son.” Love came down at Christmas.
The carol ends with a charge to those who believe that love came down at Christmas: live like it. In other words, if we believe that love comes from God and that love comes in the person of Jesus, then love needs to be our “token” – our outward sign. If we believe that love came down at Christmas, then we will love others as a result. This will be our “plea, gift, and sign.”
How are you going to show the world today that you believe love came down at Christmas?
Today’s Prayer
God thank you for sending your love to us. Help us this day to show love to the world around us in everything we do.
Amen
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