Jimbo's Jots

Brandon Heath is not really a new Christian artist. He has been producing solo albums since 2008. However, the church that I work with has been “Caroling through Christmas” during the month of December. One of the songs we have introduced is Brandon Heath’s The Night Before Christmas. Here are some thoughts that I that will be shared in the next week . . . like on December 24 . . . you know Christmas Eve . . . as in the night before Christmas.

Have you ever wondered what it was like the night before Jesus was born? Brandon Heath did, in this wonderful new Christmas song. This song is a before and after reminder. In the verses, Brandon Heath compares what it was before Jesus was to be born and what he brings with his birth.

In the first verse, we are reminded why Jesus came to this world in the first place. “Into darkness, sadness, desperate madness / Creation so torn / We were so lost on Earth, no peace, no worth” This is what we experience before we have the birth of Jesus. To a certain level, we experience those thoughts and feelings before we encounter Jesus ourselves. Do we not?

The second verse invites by the bedside of Mary as she and Joseph wait for the birth with anticipation, wondering “How long?” Mary and Joseph, through this song, verbalize what we think sometimes. We hurt for the brokenness of this world. We long for the pain to ease. We cry out to God, hoping for His mercy and grace to show itself. The answer then reveals itself maybe in a way we didn’t expect.

“And the world didn’t know / Mercy was meek and so mild / And the world didn’t know / The truth was as pure as a child / The night before Christmas” The prophecy of the Messiah had been told for centuries. The people waited for deliverance by a king. And what they got was a King born to a couple, not of prominence, but of mercy. Pure as a child on the night before Christmas!

Be blessed in the celebration of Christmas! Be a blessing to others along the way!