Carol: “Joy to the World” – Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Tune: ANTIOCH
We have innumerable blessings, you and I. It's an inexhaustible
list. Do you see
how those blessings pile up? That’s a blessing in itself!
This Isaac Watts carol is really a re-versification of Psalm
98; if you read that Psalm, you’ll see the parallels. Today’s hymnline follows
the phrase, “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground.”
In place of the infestation of these negative aspects of life, “He comes to
make his blessings known (as) far as the curse (of sin) is found.”
There are many reasons Christ came; we could grab a
legal pad and start making another list! But one of them is to replace the curse of
sin with the blessings of himself – so that his blessings might flow into and
through our lives… for our own edification and for those around us who may
still be up to their necks, strangled by the thorns of sin and sorrow.
It is a shame when a blessing comes into our lives, stops
there, and goes no further. “Paying it forward” was a Biblical principle long
before it was a movie or a common catch phrase. As the blessing pile higher and
higher, we become hoarders… yea, even Scrooge-like!
Let me give us another challenge for the Advent season:
Because he comes to make his blessings flow, let’s pass along every blessing we
possibly can. Let’s take up the blessing industry and be about our Father’s
business!
Lord Christ, may every blessing that flows into me flow out
of me into someone else. Amen.
Hear Choir from George
Fox University
Hear Dolly Sing This
Carol (with Stella on the Front Row!)
Sorry she doesn’t sing
this stanza.
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