Christmas Carols?

As I write this, the strains of O come all ye faithful float out to me from my radio. The station is not one that I listen to frequently. In fact, I came upon it in my search for some Christmas music, preferably Christmas Carols, as the Christian radio station I regularly listen to seemed to be giving us some modified, barely recognizable version ever so sparingly. It seems the days of Christmas Carols and Christmas songs, like most traditions, are almost over. Hats off to the few radio stations that still make it a point to honor the birth of our Savior by playing these time-tested favorites.

This may sound like I'm making too much of a big deal over Christmas Carols when I could easily buy my own CDs. That's true, but I may not get as wide a variety as I'm getting on this station, and to put it bluntly, I believe that all radio stations, particularly Christian radio stations, ought to play Christmas Carols during the Christmas season.

I come from an era- and a culture- when carollers went from door to door proclaiming the good news of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in song. They were doing what the angels did when they appeared to the shepherds, who in turn went and spread the news. "And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them" (Luke 2: 17; 20).

The coming of Jesus Christ into the world is still the biggest and most historic event the world has ever known. But we have turned it into another commercial celebration, forgetting that without Jesus there would be no celebration. But we do need to celebrate His birth. God, in the form of Man, coming into the world through the womb of a virgin, to live among us and later die to redeem us to the Father. It boggles my mind just to think about it.

But where is the honor, the respect and the awe that should be paid to this great Savior and King? It is lost in a flurry of shopping and partying and gift-giving, when we have already been presented with the greatest gift anyone could receive - eternal life through Jesus Christ. And that, my friends, is worth singing about.