Christmas Time Is Near: Advent Day 21

Isaiah 55:12  You will go out in joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

I love the imagery of this verse.  I can't help it.  Every time I imagine the trees clapping their hands, I'm reminded of the scene from 'A Wizard of Oz' in which the apple trees begin to throw the apples at Dorothy and Scarecrow.  I imagine those same trees clapping their hands in joy instead of being ugly and rude.

But let's forget the movie and really look at the way the earth rejoices: the mountains and hills burst into song.  The trees clap their hands.  And you know what?  This really convicts me.  How easy it is to stand in church on a Sunday and not sing along.  We dislike the song.  We are distracted by a quarrel we had that morning with our mate.  We are worrying already about what will happen at work the next day.

Now imagine that we focus instead upon the joy we feel, we ought to feel, at the gift we've been given.  Imagine singing out loud and really listening to the words as we sing them with meaning.  Imagine clapping spontaneously and whole heartedly...

Let's just go for it and DO it...