“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Sometimes a song is just right. Why it hits that mark is hard to fully explain. And, different songs manage to accomplish this feat for different people. But when it happens, you just can’t forget about it. I don’t mean that it is just permanently stuck in your head. That wouldn’t be much fun at all. But rather, you keep coming back to it. Even when you haven’t actually listened to it for quite some time, you find yourself humming along with it from totally out of the blue. Today’s song of the season is one of these songs for me. This morning, I’d like to share it with you.

Admittedly, this isn’t really a song of the season at all. It doesn’t have anything to do with Christmas. It almost certainly wasn’t written with that in mind. It doesn’t mention Jesus’ birth or any of the other traditional holiday themes. It’s just a song. At least in parts of the video she has a coat and hat on like it’s cold outside.

So then, why are we listening to it today? I already told you: it’s one of those songs for me. Since the first time I heard it, I’ve been drawn to it for its catch melody and lyrics that resonate with a Gospel truth I cling to pretty frequently. It’s one I’ve actually included in a post before, although it’s been long enough ago I’m fairly sure no one remembers it. But it’s that good.

When I first started to think about which songs I wanted to share with you this season, this one came immediately to mind. The reason is that it resonates so well with the preaching series we are working through at my church, Broken to Mended. It captures the basic idea I am trying to convey pretty much perfectly.

When Jesus came, He came to restore what is broken in us and in our world. But the restoration He brought was not simply the waving of a magic wand to make everything better. That would be easy. And it would take away the grace and glory of real redemption. Instead, Jesus did something better. He took what was broken in us and made it beautiful once again by the application of His love and mercy. He bandaged up our wounds in such a way that what were previously scars became beauty marks and testaments to God’s righteousness and love. As the name of the song says, He made the broken beautiful.

This song is by a singer-songwriter named Ellie Holcomb. She has a folksy sound and her music drips with a deep theological awareness and regularly reflects a rich engagement of the Scriptures and real life. There is a beauty here that reflects God’s own character. This song celebrates the ways God in Christ takes what is broken in us and makes it beautiful by the application of His grace and mercy. May it be a reminder to you today of what Mary’s baby accomplished when He came. Enjoy.