Adore.

Now there’s a word we don’t use every day.

Well, unless it’s late November or one of the first 25 days of December. During that narrow window out of our year, we use that word quite a bit. You know, “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant…O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”

Just today I heard the song three times while readying for church, and I joined in – loud, joyous and off key. I’m sure I’ll hear the song a few more times as we end the season and bring 2016 to a close.

Then what?

Wait for the next season of adoration?

No!

Advent was not just about waiting and watching for Jesus; we know from Genesis that God promised a Savior (Genesis 3:14-15), and we know from all of Scripture that God is faithful. Specifically, from 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV) we know that “no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” With certainty then we knew the Savior would come. With certainty we know He will return. Advent, then, and all the days before and after are not about waiting. Rather, Advent and Christmas are about adoring our Savior.

At Christmas time and always, the faithful adore Him – joyfully and triumphantly!

Who’s faithful?

Wise men! (And wise women!) The lesson of the wise men we read about in the Scriptures – the star-gazing, pagan, camel-riding astrologers – is that if they can approach the Christ and fall down in worship, so may all. So must all.

David Mathis (Desiring God.org) wrote that as we “know more, we adore Him all the more and come to Christmas with no less joy than” the magi. Mathis notes that “because He is marvelously merciful,…because His advent is Grace (Titus 2:11),…because He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10),…to heal the sick and call the sinners (Matthew 2:17), to serve the spiritually broken (Mark 10:45) and destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) we come joyful and triumphant.”

We have much to be thankful for and much to celebrate all year long!

“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant…O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.