December 1, 2016 - I love the Christmas season. I love everything about it. I love the lights, the food, the smiles, the fellowship, the sappy Christmas movies on Hallmark channel, but most of all I love the music. Christmas carols are beautiful and each one has a message that is rich in history. I want to share the history of a few of these songs over the next couple of weeks.
Take for instance the carol "O Holy Night". It was extremely popular in France after it was written in 1847 but fell out of favor with the church when it was found out that the composer was Jewish. But God had other plans for the song. The French people knew and loved the song and continued to sing it outside the church and God used it in a powerful way in the the Franco-Prussian war, when a French soldier jumped out of the trench he had been fighting from in the middle of combat and began to sing "O Holy Night" on Christmas Eve1871.
One of his German opponents countered by singing the German Christmas carol "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come" by Martin Luther. These two mens courage to drop there weapons and sing, led to a 24 hour truce in honor of Christmas Day. When word of how "O Holy Night" brought peace on that Christmas, traveled around the world, singing of the carol became popular. On Christmas Eve 1906, American professor Reginald Fessenden became the first person to broadcast his voice over radio waves. He read the Christmas story and sang "O Holy Night" making it the first song in history to be broadcast on the radio.
The message that we can take away from this story is that God can take things that others want to throw away and do great things with it when we use it serve Him. So don't feel discouraged if you feel like others have given up on you. God created you and has a purpose for your life. He loves you and wants you to be bold, step out of the trench you've been living in, sing His praises, and He will bring you peace.
I'm Just Sayin
Mike Belgard
