Hurry, Hurry and WHAT?

What about Christmas do you love? The gifts, the shopping, decorating, baking, being with family? I love the twinkling lights and the Christmas songs! Christmas carols are interesting, though. Have you ever focused on some of the words? Today I heard "What Child is This?" As I listened, something caught my attention.
Read the words carefully & notice what we are to bring the baby.

What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Did you catch it? Haste, that means hurry. So...hurry, hurry, and bring him LAUD! What in the world is laud? I remember singing "lard" as a child, but that couldn't be right.

We looked up the word tonight at the dinner table, and discovered, laud means praise. I was relieved to know there was not an overabundance of lard in the manger, but I was wondering, is there an overabundance of praise in my heart.

As I thought about that line of the song, I wondered, "How quick am I to offer praise to God? Am I hasty to praise?

Maybe this could be a goal for Christmas 09. Be hasty with praise to Christ the King. Each morning when we awake this Christmas season and each time we hear this song, let's praise God for who he is and all he has done for us.