Saturday

Charles Spurgeon on "Merry Christmas"

Luke 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Observe the sacred joy of Mary that you may imitate it. This is a season when all men expect us to be joyous. We greet each other with "Merry Christmas." Some Christians don’t like the word "merry." But it is a right good old Saxon word, having the joy of childhood and the mirth of manhood in it. It brings before one's mind the old songs of the season, and the midnight peal of bells, the holly and the blazing log.

I love it for its place in that most tender of all parables, where it is written, that, when the long-lost prodigal returned to his father safe and sound, "They began to be merry." This is the season when we are expected to be happy; and my heart's desire is, that in the highest and best sense, you who are believers may be "merry."

Mary's heart was merry within her; but here was the mark of her joy: it was not such merriment as worldlings will revel in at Christmas, but such merriment as the angels have around the throne, where they sing, "Glory to God in the highest," while we sing "On earth peace, goodwill towards men." Such merry hearts have a continual feast. I want you, ye children of the bride-chamber, to possess today and tomorrow, yea, all your days, the high and consecrated bliss of Mary, that you may not only read her words, but use them for yourselves, ever experiencing their meaning: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior."

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