The Christmas Story is really about worship. Through the various characters of the Christmas story we learn to worship in various ways. Simeon was a citizen well-seasoned in years who received a promise that he would not die until he saw the Christ child. When Mary and Joseph were in the temple with Jesus for the circumcision on the 8th as the Jewish custom required, Simeon was right there. Like a godfather, he grabbed the baby Jesus with his hands, embraced him in his arms and began to praise God.
In any given worship service, we use our hands in various ways to worship God. Unfortunately, many people have no idea of the meaning behind it. Many congregants and guests are just following the worship leader’s instructions, trying to blend in with the crowd or doing what they have seen done for generations. Worshipping without understanding is merely religious ritual. True spirituality empowers us to worship on purpose knowing exactly why we are doing what we are doing.
The left hand is the hand of humanity and the right hand is the hand of divinity. When we clap our hands we are bringing our humanity and our divinity together to manifest the good desires of our hearts (Psalms 47:1). The speed in which we clap signals to the universe how fast we need demonstration. We clap our hands because we need our marriages, families, neighborhoods, careers, health and finances to come together. Clapping brings our good from the heavenly realm of idea to the earthly realm of manifestation (Psalms 98:8).
