Christmas Music

Christmas Music: Prepare your heart for the holidays in this devotion with Heather Hart.

Bible Verse for Today

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”

Luke 1:46-47

Devotion for Today

Prepare Your Hearts for the Holidays

I love Christmas music. I would listen to it all year round if my husband would let me. So, I guess it’s no surprise that I am drawn to the first Christmas song. Mary had just showed up at her aunt’s home and she was so filled with joy that she broke out in song.

(We don’t do that anymore. In fact, I used to think it was a special thing reserved for musicals and never happened in real life, but it happened all the time in the Bible, so maybe it’s just a thing of the past. Anyway, I digress.)

Mary was so full of joy for God that she couldn’t contain it. She broke out in song, singing of her joy. Christmas was coming, and she had a starring role in the nativity story. I can’t imagine knowing I had such a special role in the birth of Christ. To know the baby growing in my womb was the Savior of the world.

As I sit here writing this, I’m listening to “Mary Did You Know,” and pondering on just how much Mary did know. She knew she was carrying the Messiah. She most likely knew what the Scriptures said about Him. She would have known that He was bound for amazing things, but she didn’t know what that would look like.

When she broke out in song at her Aunt Elizabeth’s home, she sung of what God had already done, and we do the same every Christmas. As Christmas approaches, we sing of what God has done; we sing of that first Christmas and the life of Christ. We praise the name of Jesus as we remember the day of His birth.

Mary isn’t the only one who broke out in song in Scripture. Moses and the Israelites’ sang to God after crossing the Red Sea, and the Psalms are chock-full of songs overflowing of God’s faithfulness. I think that’s what draws me to Christmas music the most. There is something about singing of what God has done that just moves my soul; overflows it.

And it’s not just Christmas songs, I love all worship music. Isaiah 43 says, “But now, thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’”[1] And then in verse 7 God reminds us that He created us for His glory. We were created to give God glory; to worship Him and praise His name.

Mary did that through song, and so can we. When we lift our voices to worship the Savior of the world, He hears. But our singing doesn’t just bring Him glory, it refocuses our hearts on Jesus.

When we lift our voices to worship the Savior of the world, He hears. Share on X

[1] Isaiah 43:1

---