Keep Celebrating!

Prayer – Lord, I just want to keep celebrating You!

 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; celebrate his lovely name with music. - Psalm 135:3

 

Meditate. Consider how you celebrate the birthday of family and friends.

 

How do you celebrate the birthday of family and friends? A big dinner with music and singing? Just cake and ice cream…or a scrumptious fruit pie or cobbler with a candle? How have you celebrated the birthday of our Lord and Savior? My family tends to celebrate a birthday for more than just one day…sometimes a week—or for special milestones—a whole month! A sister-in-law once introduced that “celebrate for a month” idea—and I think it is terrific! One day is never enough! So, celebrate the birth of Jesus for at least a few more days…and on to Epiphany which is on Saturday January 6, 2024. That is the day, Three Kings Day, recognizing the Wise Men arrival in Bethlehem after Jesus was born. Some people give gifts to their children on that day. When we lived in South Carolina, we had friends who were Porto Rican who gave their "Christmas" presents on Three Kings Day. It was a great celebration time for their family!

 

Note that Epiphany falls twelve days after Christmas. Some say that is what the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is all about. Google the “Twelve Days of Christmas” meaning. You’ll find several sites online that note the religious significance when the song was written in 1780 and how the Catholic church was experiencing persecution. Can you imagine that people were imprisoned or killed for expressing their belief in Jesus as the Messiah? They were, so, they hid the meaning of Christmas in this song.

 

The Twelve Days of Christmas

The First Day of Christmas
A Partridge in a Pear Tree represents Jesus Christ, the son of God and Savior of the Christian world.

The Second Day of Christmas
Two Turtle Doves represent the Old and New Testaments, the two books that comprise the Holy Bible.

The Third Day of Christmas
Three French Hens symbolized the theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

The Fourth Day of Christmas
Four Calling Birds are symbolic of the four Gospels and their writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The Fifth Day of Christmas
Five Golden Rings encourage literacy and stand for the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The Sixth Day of Christmas
Six Geese A-Laying represent the creation story as told in Genesis in which God creates the world in six days.

The Seventh Day of Christmas
Seven Swans A-Swimming concerns the seven sacraments of the Catholic faith: baptism, communion, reconciliation (the idea that sins are forgiven once you confess and repent), confirmation, marriage, ordination, and the ritual of last rights.

The Eighth Day of Christmas
Eight Maids A-Milking represent the eight Beatitudes, which can be found in Matthew 5:3-12 as part of the Sermon on the Mount. In short these are: God blesses the poor in spirit, blesses the meek, blesses they who mourn, blesses those who hunger and thirst after justice, blesses the merciful, blesses those with pure hearts, blesses the peacemakers, and blesses those that suffer persecution for justice's sake.

The Ninth Day of Christmas
Nine Ladies Dancing symbolize the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The Tenth Day of Christmas
Ten Lords A-Leaping implies the Ten Commandments, brought down by Moses and passed down as Catholic law.

The Eleventh Day of Christmas
Eleven Pipers Piping depict the eleven faithful apostles: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Jude, and Simon  (though there were twelve, Judas is excluded due to his betrayal of Christ)

The Twelfth Day of Christmas
Twelve Drummers Drumming refers to the doctrine of the Apostle's Creed and the twelve points included therein (belief in God the Father almighty, belief in Jesus Christ his only Son - our Lord, that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, that He suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was crucified, died and was buried, then he descended into hell, that he rose again the third day, that he ascended into heaven, that he is seated at the right hand of the Father, that he is to come to judge the living and the dead, belief in the Holy Ghost, belief in the holy catholic Church and the communion of saints, belief in the remission of sins, and belief in the resurrection of the flesh and life eternal.)

 

Knowing these points makes this Christmas carol much more relevant to season and to Christians. Keep celebrating beyond Christmas day!

 

Verse of Salvation ~ Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Psalm 95:1

 

© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

Books by Mickey M. Hunacek

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