For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” ~Zephaniah 3:17 NLT
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16 NLT
I really enjoy listening to love songs. In fact, on my phone, I have an entire playlist set up just for those special songs of love. Why do I like them so much? Because the music and lyrics touch me deeply, and stir up memories and feelings of loving and being loved.
We usually think of love songs as the songs written with the purpose of expressing an intense, romantic love for someone special. But there are other types of love and, therefore, there are other types of songs. There are songs written about special friendships, and songs written to share our feelings of grief over the loss of a loved one. There are the lullabies we sing to our children, so they can sleep knowing they are safe and loved. And there are many songs written about God’s love for us and our love for God.
Last Sunday, we sang an arrangement of a traditional Christmas carol, which contained a chorus that differed from the original version. As I sang the unfamiliar lyrics, some of the new words jumped out at me and touched my heart:
Melody breaks through the silence
Christ the Savior is born
Jesus, the love song of God
[Arrangement by Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, and Jonas Myrin]
These beautiful words reminded me that I am indeed loved, not just by my family and friends, but by my Heavenly Father. Jesus is the love song of God. What a powerful message! God sang a love song to the world when He gave us His only Son, and He continues to sing his song of love for us everyday through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Maybe I should join the song. Maybe I can sing a love song from God to my family, my friends, and my church. Or, maybe I can sing a love song from the Father to His children who are lost and hurting. Whenever I reach out in love to someone in need, they could be hearing a love song from God.
Christmas is a great time to start singing. Let’s all join together in singing a loud song of love from God to His children.
Be blessed, my friends.
Here is a link to the carol I mentioned: Midnight Clear. I hope you take a few minutes to listen to the words.