A Review of God Rest Ye Merry

I read God Rest Ye Merry earlier this year. Here are some thoughts.

I admit it’s an odd thing to be reading an Advent book not in December, but I honestly recommend this practice whole heartedly.

Let’s be real. You start an Advent book in late November or early December with high hopes that you will actually read it during Advent and then you don’t.

You get busy/stressed/distracted (take your pick!) by all the Christmas doings, that you don’t finish. Then you take guilty/embarrassed/stressed feelings into January.

Neither option is a good one.

It reminds me a little bit of what I read from pastor’s wife, Noel Piper 20 years ago when she talked about never starting a Bible-in-a-year plan in January.

The pressure is too great. Do it, just do it when the pressure is lessened. You’ll actually do it, and you’ll get more out of it.

Reading an Advent devotional some other time of the year can help orient your devotion and prime your actions for next Christmas. Especially if you take notes and/or export your Kindle highlights to be delivered to yourself via email at the start of the next Advent.

Oh yeah, baby. I did that!

Here are some of my take-away’s from God Rest Ye Merry: Why Christmas in the Foundation for Everything by Douglas Wilson.

Our God is a Big God.

He never ceases to amaze me at how BIG and how amazingly GOOD He is.

Wilson shouts this point from the rooftops, emphasizing that Christmas, and more specifically, the Incarnation, is one of the ways that God overflows in goodness to us.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the bigness of God and the fulfillment of His promises. How we live at Christmastide should echo this. Wilson writes,

there must be continuity between what we are saying and how we are living. And by this, I mean much more than that our words should be true and our behavior good. I mean that our words should sound like good news and our lives should smell like good news. (p. 88)

This is true all the time, but if I’m gonna say, “Merry Christmas,” and mean it, I need to be walking the talk.

December is for Celebrating

Advent is not to be a time of penitence, but of celebration. He encourages celebrating big, from page 90:

It seems a little out of control, as though I am urging you to “go overboard.” But of course I am urging you to go overboard. Think about it—when this world was “in sin and error pining,” did God give us a teaspoon of grace to make our dungeon a tad more pleasant? No. He went overboard.

It’s okay to be big in our celebrations of Christmas provided our hearts are in the right place. Again, where our hearts should be all the time, centered on Christ, but turned up to 11.

But the holidays are nothing other than what we normally do, ramped up to the next level. And so as we prepare our hearts for this celebration, ramp this up as well…Think of this as getting dressed for the season—here, put this on. What should you put on? Tender-mercies, kindness, humility of mind, meekness, patience (v. 12). That is holiday garb.

The Book is Well Done

Throughout the book, Wilson demonstrates his skill at word craft. He reminds me a bit of CS Lewis in his careful and witty turns of phrase.

Peppered throughout the book are historical anecdotes about our classic Christmas celebrations, from Martin Luther and Christmas lights to Saint Nicholas and his passion for solid doctrine.

The last section of the book is full of daily Advent devotions. I skimmed them because I intend to really read them this coming Christmas as we celebrate a more intentional Advent.

Last year one of the best things I did as a food blogger was spend the 25th of each month creating Christmas content for the blog. It had me really primed for the feasts of Christmas.

Planning for Christmas in July has me doing the same type of prep on a spiritual level for Christmas 2024. How can I dress myself, my heart, today and always to celebrate God’s Big Promise Fulfilled?

Caveat about God Rest Ye Merry: The author addresses certain Roman Catholic/Protestant controversies, arguing for the Protestant position. I realize that reasonable minds will disagree, however I want to post that warning for readers who might not hold the same position.