The Holiness Of The Night

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Luke 2:20

For many people, the true spirit of Christmas is finally experienced in the last few hours of Christmas Eve. Many churches have a Christmas Eve service in the latter hours of the night. Indeed, many non-Christians attend these services to catch an annual glimpse of the meaning of Christmas.

Beautiful music, soft candlelight, the fellowship of like-minded souls, and a chance to hear the Christmas story read reverently—all this and more make a Christmas Eve service a holy night for the Christian church. But it’s not just the surroundings, meaningful as they are. Holiness is a matter of the heart, above all else. And just as the shepherds left the holy stable where they found Jesus in Bethlehem and went back to their workaday world glorifying and praising God, so should we do the same. The holiness of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day should be a prelude to living a holy life the rest of the year.

Make sure you sanctify Christ in your heart this season so that He might live gloriously through you in the new year.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

JOHN S. DWIGHT