Let Earth Receive Her King
…the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:78-79
Yesterday I went to a different grocery store than where I usually shop. I suppose you could say it was on the wrong side of the tracks. As I walked through the aisles and surveyed the clientele, I began to wonder where I was. I felt like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz saying, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
It was patently clear I was no longer in the quaint country town where we resided less than six months ago. I used to notice ladies with teased hair, but now I see them with dyed hair of unnatural colors. Clanging cowboy spurs have been replaced with piercings galore. No longer do I see coveralls and buttoned down plaid shirts. The people here are often clothed in skull printed black shirts.
The people I passed by yesterday wore far off looks, seemingly in a daze. I shook my head, sad and burdened. These outer exteriors obviously indicated their lost state.
As I continued through the store filling my cart with foodstuffs, I began to realize these people, though they had different exteriors, were no different from the ones in my former town. They may drive varied cars and wear dissimilar clothes, but they do have one thing in common. They need Jesus.
Pushing my cart, I heard Christmas music from overhead…Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room…
“Oh, Lord, let it be so!” I prayed.
Today, especially as we begin to enter the advent season, let us remember to intercede on behalf of the lost and ask the Waymaker to prepare empty hearts to receive Jesus—the one who brings joy to the world. So many are hungry for the truth. We must always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within us as we contemplate this often overlooked verse of Joy to the World:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found!
