O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. 'Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth. The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoicing for yonder breaks a new and glorious dawn. Fall on your knees! O hear the angels voices! O night divine! O night, when Christ was born.
To start things off you need to know that I "believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." (Articles of Faith 1:1). This belief leads me to this time of year and the importance of the events that we celebrate.
The title of the post comes from the song "O Holy Night" (first verse quoted above). It discusses the "thrill of hope" that the weary world was waiting for. The celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ ushered in the hope of a Savior. The birth of Jesus Christ gave everyone who ever walked on this earth the hope for two things:
- The resurrection of all men wherein our spirits and our bodies would be reunited in a perfect form
- Exaltation in the kingdom of God whereby if we repent of our sins we can be cleansed through the atoning blood of Christ and live with Heavenly Father again
The thrill we feel knowing that Jesus was born, lived a perfect life and then selflessly sacrificed himself so that we could be imperfect yet have a chance to be forgiven of our sins. This hope has been offered to all and each of us can take advantage of it.
I have that hope and I try to live in a way that I can take advantage of the Savior's sacrifice. I also try to be Christlike to others and demonstrate my hope in being resurrected and exalted.
At this Christmas season, may we all be filled with the thrill of hope that the Savior's birth brought to this earth. May we remember that the spirit of Christmas is truly the Spirit of Christ. May we take the time to let others know of our hope in Christ through our actions and examples.
