My tree is decorated. Presents are wrapped and under the tree.  Christmas music is playing in the background. This much of Christmas has not changed, but certainly a lot has. Joe and I won’t be hosting 30+ relatives for brunch on Christmas morning. Our family visit to Greenfield Village Holiday Nights, canceled. The Life Group Christmas party canceled. My out-of-town family coming home for Christmas, canceled. And as much as I appreciate my church’s online services, I miss the freedom of worshiping with my church family and friends, especially during this special season. It seems that COVID-19 has disrupted our beloved Christmas traditions, but as I sit here writing this blog, cheerful Christmas music is playing in the background. There is just something special about Christmas music that lifts your spirit, especially the Christmas carols.

The contemporary ones like Mary Did You Know, and Lauren Daigle’s Noel, but especially the traditional carols, like Silent Night, O Holy Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing make my heart sing. One of my favorites is Joy To the World. The first line of this 201-year-old carol written by Isaac Watts is,

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her king.”

As many times as I have sung this song at Christmas time, this year it was this last line that gave me pause. “Let earth receive her king!” It reminds me that Jesus entered humanity to be our King. Yes, He came to be our Savior, our Redeemer, Our Prophet, Our Priest, but we can’t forget that he also came to be our King. I think this is where many of us as Christians tend to struggle. We are eager to accept Him,

as our Savior—to exchange a destiny of damnation for a destiny of eternal life;

as our Redeemer—for it is by His shed blood that our sins are forgiven;

as our High Priest—for He makes intercession to the Father on our behalf;

as our Prophet—for He speak to us, revealing more of himself and His truths, leading and directing our lives.

But accepting Him as our KING? This means we place the government of our life into His hands. It means we submit to His sovereignty over our lives. We embrace the principles of His kingdom over our personal preferences and agendas. We choose His will, not our will to govern our lives. Perhaps this was why Watts was inspired to write the next line of his carol. After the line, “Let earth receive her king,” he wrote, “Let every heart prepare him room.”

This was the problem the 1^st Century Jews had with Jesus. They had no room in their hearts to receive Jesus as their king, because he wasn’t the kind of king they wanted. They wanted a king  like King David, a warrior king who would lead a revolt and overthrow their Roman oppressors; a king who would sit on a throne in Jerusalem and return the nation of Israel to its greatness.

They weren’t looking for a king whose mission was conquering man’s true enemy, the enemy of his soul—death, hell, and the devil. They weren’t looking for a king who came to establish a spiritual kingdom, the Kingdom of God here on earth. They weren’t looking for a king who came to demonstrate his power not on a battlefield, but rather by healing the sick, forgiving sin, raising the dead, casting out demons.

And certainly, they were not looking for a king, who would teach that the principles of His Kingdom are: turn the other cheek, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you. Blessed are the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, and those who hunger and thirst not after the riches, power, and fame of this world, but hunger and thirst after righteousness!

They had no room in their hearts to receive Jesus as their king, because their hearts were filled with their own preferences and agendas.

There is a blessing in this pared down Christmas. We have time to quiet ourselves and evaluate the condition of our heart. Ask yourself: Is there room in my heart to receive Him as my King? What preferences and agendas have taken precedence over His sovereignty in my life? What has crowded Him out as the King of my heart?  Yes, He is my Savior, my Redeemer, my Prophet, Priest, but is He king?

During this most unusual Christmas season, with renewed passion let’s embrace the message of this enduring carol:

Joy to the World, the Lord has come,

Let earth receive her king,

Let every heart prepare him room!