O Come Let Us Adore

Christmas carols played softly on the car radio as I drove in the darkness. I find my time driving an excellent time for reflection and prayer, especially at night! No one but God can hear me. My conversation with Him is a combination of praise and petition. My heart, on that drive last night, was tender, open, waiting. Words of love and worship spilled over between petitions. It was a sweet time of connection and renewal after a long and stressful day.

Do you adore Him? Yes, we revere our Lord. We may worship Him in formal liturgy, but do you love and adore Him?  The word comes from two root words that mean “to open the mouth.”  Yes, we can learn a sweet, tender love language with our Lord for He loves us.  Private and personal, those words flow out of my heart.  In many ways, my love for the Lord is like the love I feel for family- strong, enduring, life-defining, and in need of daily nurture!  I speak often with Him.  I give worth (worship) to Him with words and actions. Do I always sense that kind of focus?  Of course not! There are the pressures of temptation and demands that would dilute my passion for God if I did not take time to turn my mind and heart to HIM! 

Those who know me are acquainted with my affection for my late wife. Even nearly a year after her death, she slips into my conversations many times each day.  She remains a presence in me. Do we love Jesus in a way so that He appears in our words and is a presence in our thoughts?  If we profess to adore Christ Jesus, that love will be evident to all. IF we never speak of Him or seldom speak to Him can we really claim to adore Him? I think not.

We may be fond of Jesus without speaking of Him. We may trust Him as Savior without speaking of Him, but we cannot claim to adore Him and remain silent about Him.   The Psalmist sings of his affection for the living God.  “Your love, God, is my song, and I'll sing it! I'm forever telling everyone how faithful you are. I'll never quit telling the story of your love— how you built the cosmos and guaranteed everything in it. Your love has always been our lives' foundation, your fidelity has been the roof over our world." (Psalm 89)

In forty years of marriage, I learned early that love needed care and intention.  All kinds of things tried to intrude on the love Bev and I shared.  That is why we made choices like always having dinner together, making sure that we kept conversations fresh, and keeping our hearts open with no secrets between us our priorities.  

Loving the Lord is much the same. Other loves will try intrude!  In the book of the Revelation, Jesus laments the state of the church in Ephesus which had abandoned their love. They were dutifully religious, but without adoration! "You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first." (Revelation 2:3-5, NIV)

This Advent Season when you hear that carol, "O Come, All Ye Faithful," played, I hope it will stir you to a renewed adoration!

Open your mouth and give Him praise. 
Sing and speak of His goodness.

A word of caution is in order here. IF you don't adore Him, then don't try to convince yourself or someone else that you do with empty words or borrowed words!

Your insincerity will quickly become apparent to others, if not to yourself!  YOU can adore Him. If your love of Christ has gone cold, there is but one reason: increase of sin and disobedience.  The cure for sin sickness is not to talk more or sing louder.  Jesus says we find our way home to Him by turning around (repent) and focusing our hearts on Him as we did in the first experiences of His grace.

Love is first and foremost a choice; secondarily an emotion. Jesus warned that  "Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold."  (Matthew 24:12) If that's describing you, turn back to God.  Find a place alone with Him and tell Him you've fallen for another lover, then renew your commitment to Him.  Go to those you've wronged and ask them for forgiveness. Then, accept the wonderful love of the Savior whose "unfailing love never ends!

Here is the word from the Word. Lord, captivate us. Let us hear your song of love and adore You. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NLT)

"Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." (Romans 5:7-8, NLT)

_________________

O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him, born the King of angels.

O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.

Sing choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
O sing all ye bright hosts of heav'n above.

Glory to God, All glory in the highest.

O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,
born this happy morning;
Jesus to Thee be all glory giv'n.

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing.

O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!

John Wade © Public Domain