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And the Soul Felt Its Worth


What does your soul feel?  Joy?  Happiness?  Sadness?  Discouragement?

Perhaps it depends on the circumstances!

Perhaps it depends on the moment!

What if it feels the heaviness of failures, one after the other?

What if your soul seems to be wasting away, longing for something better?

What if your soul feels the burden of sin?

The words of a familiar Christmas carol caught my attention, perhaps you could say they resonated with my soul!

The carol describes the condition of the world, encompassing the condition of each soul and it is brutally honest, almost seemingly defying the joy of the season:  “long lay the world in sin and error pining”.

But it also points to something better:  “A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn”.

What happened?  How could sin and error pining change to a thrill of hope and a new and glorious morn?

The carol gives the clear answer:  “It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth”.

Other words of the carol include:

“O holy night…”

“O night when Christ was born...”

“Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth”.

Until he appeared, the soul had no option except that of laying long in sin and error pining.  Now that He has appeared, the soul can feel its worth.

Worth is often measured by price.  The price was a Savior who came as the Christ child but also gave His life for us.  Through the demonstration of this supreme act of love, the soul can feel its true worth!

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