“We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
It’s a silly little song, very simple in its construction and repetition. But yet so rich in lessons for every follower of Christ!
Let’s look at the first verse of this song:
“Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
Friends, we have good tidings indeed! Jesus the Christ child is come!
True enough, He was more than likely not born on December 25, and in fact, we’re not even 100% sure of the year He was born. But there is one undeniable fact: Jesus, the Son of God, left His comfortable home in Heaven, left the company of His Father, and left the adoration of the Angels to come to this Earth to a peasant family, where there wasn’t any room for His birth, to walk this earth for more than 30 years, to be ridiculed, to be mocked, and to die the most horrible of all deaths, all for our Salvation! All to open Heaven’s Gates! “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.‘” (John 14:6 NKJV)
Now is that “good tidings” or what? And as a result of Christmas, we can, indeed, have a “Happy New Year!”
The next verse to the song seems silly indeed:
“Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer”
What possible spiritual lesson can we learn from these words?
Just this: As sinners we are hungry. We are hungry for Truth, we are hungry for life eternal. Jesus is that bread of life: “Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.'” (John 6:35-36 NKJV)
The next time you sing this silly verse of this well-known Christmas Carol, remember: Jesus is the Bread of Life! He is the One who fulfills our deep, internal longings for love and acceptance, even friendship!
The song then goes on to say:
“We won’t go until we get some;
We won’t go until we get some;
We won’t go until we get some, so bring some out here.”
Friends, this is the cry of the lost soul! It’s true that most lost souls don’t realize they hunger for Jesus, but they realize there is something missing in their lives, and they resolve to fill that emptiness at all cost! Some turn to drugs, others alcohol, others success and wealth and riches, and still others to love. But in the end, they all come up empty! Why? Because there is only One who can fill our internal needs, and that One is Jesus!
This devotional is addressed to three different categories of people.
First of all, if you don’t know Jesus, and if you feel that longing inside to be filled, then this devotional is for you! Resolve in your heart that you won’t stop seeking until you are filled, and then look to the only One who can fill that persistent need! If this is you, please email me here.
Secondly, there are those who believe they know Jesus, but still have that longing, that restlessness in their hearts! They continue to cry out, “bring us some figgy pudding”! Why? Because Jesus is a concept, but He has never become a personal Friend and Savior! We may know Jesus, but if we’ve never sought a relationship with Him, if we’ve never learned to trust in His unfailing love, to allow Him to fulfill all of our needs, we will continue to feel empty! So what do you do? Seek God in all humility! Go to your knees before the throne of Grace, declaring in your heart that you “won’t go until [you] get some”! There is nothing God wants more than to have a relationship with us! Make this your Christmas prayer! God will not leave you empty! If you would like some help with this, please email me here.
Finally, if you already know Jesus, if you understand how Jesus has filled the longing in your heart, then I’d like for you to join me in focussing on one particular line of this song: “So bring some out here.” Friends, there are thousands out there who long to know Jesus! We are the ones who can bring that good news to them! Let’s not keep our “pudding” to ourselves! Let’s share it with the world!
Friends, this Christmas when you sing, “We wish you a Merry Christmas”, remember:
1. As a result of Christmas, we do, indeed, have good tidings! Tidings that will ensure us a Happy New Year!
2. Our souls long to be filled with “figgy pudding”, the Bread of Life! Let us seek after this with all our hearts, souls and minds!
3. And finally, for those of us who are already full of the Bread of Life, let’s hear the cry of the lost: “So bring some out here”! Let’s resolve to do just that! To share our Good News with a lost and hungry world!
Join us next Saturday for Lessons From Christmas Carols, Part 4: Santa Claus is Coming to Town!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries.
(To access the entire “Lessons From Christmas Carols” mini-series, please click here.)