Sin & Error Pining

Tis the season to listen to 24/7 Christmas music and watch Christmas movies. I was listening to O Holy Night which I have heard thousands of times. It is a weird thing to hear something and ponder it in a new way. The lines in the song that struck me:

Long lay the world in sin and error pining – ’til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

It is an overwhelming thought when one really thinks of it. Think about how pathetic and horrible our worldwide situation is as we all wallow in our misery and raw neediness. When I think of pining I don’t really understand its depth of meaning. We have made it so trivial like we have with the idea of love. We say, “I’m pining for In N Out” or “I love ice cream.” Well to be honest I have not heard anyone use the word pining in a long time but you get the idea. The dictionary defines pining as suffering a mental and physical decline, especially because of a broken heart. Yes, that is how broken we are without Jesus.

We are pining away in our sin and error until He appeared, that is! Then we got a glimpse of our worth! When God shows up and smiles on our lives with his infinite kindness, He is SO full of everything we don’t have. THAT is why we celebrate! Because He gave us, and continues to give us, worth. Value! What more incredible gift could a soul possibly pine for?!

I am so thankful that Jesus let me feel His worth when He showed up. Without Him, I’m pining.  And not just for coffee. Without Jesus, I’m desperately needy. His advent is everything.