Have you ever watched a movie that you hadn’t seen since childhood and realized how completely you had misunderstood the plot. I have done that several times. I did it also with the pledge of allegiance. “And to the republic for which it stands…” I remember the day I realized that we were not saying “witch,” but “which.” I seriously pictured a witch on a broomstick every time I said the pledge in grade school.
I listened to “O Come O Come Emmanuel” today, a song I grew up reading from a hymnal. I knew the words, but did not know my vocabulary. “O come O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel.” Wow. That is beautiful. God’s people were held captive by sin (as in Lamentations 1:5), but he loved us so much that he sent his son as a ransom to free us and gather us back to Himself! Not just the Jews, but the gentiles too. Romans 6. “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.” Repeat.
