“O Holy Night”

Dear God, I was driving in my truck last week when the song “O Holy Night” came on the radio. I was singing along shamelessly loud (thank goodness I was alone in the car) when I came across the lyrics in the middle of the first verse. I have sung this song thousands of times in my life, but these words floored me: “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ’til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.” What unbelievably beautiful and communicative poetry that is.

I love the imagery because, apart from you, a soul has no clue what its worth is. I am trying to imagine what it would be like to wake up this morning and not know you. How would I feel? Where would my sense of hope and peace come from? Where would my sense of worth come from?

Father, thank you for the reminder of something that I tend to take for granted–that your presence in my life enables me to know my worth in the universe. I am not lost. I did not find my way. I was found by you. Now I pray that you help me, as a husband and a father, to help me foster an environment in my home where my wife and children will know their worth in you.