Christmas songs. They are everywhere you go this week. Fun or profound, sacred or secular, Christmas music will ring throughout our land this week.

Hiding in plain sight, the words of those songs define what we believe about Christ, his birth, and his purpose. I wanted to bring you some of the lesser-known verses of very familiar tunes to form your Advent prayers this week.

First up, “We Three Kings.”

This song tells the journey of the three wise men from the “east” who follow the star of Bethlehem to the birthplace of Jesus.

They “followed a star,” which was just one of the signs that God gave us that His son was being born.

Deeper into the song come these lyrics:

Born a king on Bethlehem’s plain,

Gold I bring to crown Him again,

King forever, ceasing never

Over us all to reign.

I love this image of the wise men crowning Jesus “again” here on earth with the gold that they bring. What are you bringing to Jesus this Christmas? Is it pure gold? Gold that is fit for a king whose reign will never end?

Yet he is more than King…

Glorious now behold Him arise,

King and God and Sacrifice.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Sounds through the earth and skies.

Jesus is King. He is God. And he is our Sacrifice. Do you praise Him as all three? The Savior-baby, born in a manger becomes not only our King, but the sacrifice required to bring the gulf between our sin and God’s righteousness.

This week, meditate on the profundity of what must have happened in the heavenly realms. The King of the Heavens, Jesus, abdicates his glorious throne in order to experience a human birth to enter our world.

He comes not to triumph over Rome. He comes to turn our hearts back to what God created us to do. Yet heaven watches, knowing that they will watch their King die in order to ransom us.

God, we confess that the joy of the season sometimes obscures our understanding of the Advent. Thank you for coming into the world to be our King, our God, and our Sacrifice. We praise you as all three, and ask that you would invade the hearts of others this week who will hear the Christmas carols in malls, on radios, and in stores. Embolden us to offer you our greatest gifts–gifts fit for the only King whose Kingdom will matter in eternity.