Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Saints and angels sing,
And Saints and angels sing,
And Saints, and Saints and angels sing.

Rejoice! Rejoice, when Jesus reigns,
And Saints their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He’ll comes and make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

Rejoice! Rejoice in the Most High,
While Israel spreads abroad
Like stars that glitter in the sky,
And ever worship God,
And ever worship God,
And ever, and ever worship God.
(This is the version of Joy to the World found in Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.* For an audio version, click here.)

Jesus Christ is the reason for joy. At this Christmas season, as we give and receive presents, as we enjoy carols and cocoa and cards, the most important thing to remember is that Jesus Christ is real. He lives, He loves us, and because of His infinite Atonement, we can have joy in our lives.

As President Gordon B. Hinckley, a modern-day prophet, noted, “There would be no Christmas if there had not been Easter. The babe Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby without the redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary, and the triumphant fact of the Resurrection.”
(Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Wondrous and True Story of Christmas", Liahona, Dec. 2000, 2)

As I reflect during this Christmas season, that is the message I most want my children to know—that Jesus Christ did come to earth, He lived each day of His mortal life for us, He atoned for our sins and died for us, and then He was resurrected. He is the light, not only of the Christmas season, but of every day of our lives. Joy doesn’t come from Christmas presents or decorations; it comes from Jesus Christ, because Christ was love, because He is love. And so I wholeheartedly declare (and sing, although not necessarily in key): joy to the world—the Lord has come, and He has made joy a possibility for each one of us, through His life and His love.

*Just an fyi...Saints means believers.