Ten Thousand Years and Then Forevermore

The house is silent for once so while tidying up and making some goodies for a Christmas party tonight I tuned to my favorite Pandora station of the season – Carrie Underwood Holiday radio.

I love this station because 1. Carrie’s Christmas songs are my favorite and 2. it plays some gospel songs as well.

My all time favorite hymn is “How Great Thou Art” and Carrie’s rendition is angelic. The lyrics of the song are already so powerful, but when put together with her voice it brings tears to my eyes every time.

I have found a favorite new song though. It’s called “10,000 Reasons.” We’ve sung it at church plenty of times but for some reason, just recently, the lyrics have really stuck out to me. It plays on this station pretty often and I’d like to share a few thoughts I’ve had while listening to this music in a quiet house on a cold afternoon. (BTW, I love that it’s finally cold in Alabama!)

The second verse and into the chorus of “10,000 Reasons” goes like this:

“You’re rich in love and you’re slow to anger.

Your name is great and your heart is kind.

For all your goodness I will keep on singing.

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul”

In our Sunday morning Bible class we’ve been talking about the characteristics of Christ and how to strive to be more like Him. Maybe that’s why these words stuck out to me now more than ever before. But isn’t this how we all want to be? We want to be rich in love and slow to anger. We want to have kind hearts. We want to exhibit these behaviors not only in our own lives, but to bring up our children to love and be kind and be slow to anger and patient as well.

The last verse of this song is the one that really brings joy into my heart.

“And on that day when my strength is failing,

The end draws near and my time has come.

Still my soul will sing your praise unending,

Ten thousand years and then forevermore.”

It is very similar to the last verse of “How Great Thou Art:”

“When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

and lead me home what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow in humble adoration,

And there proclaim, ‘My God, How Great Thou Art.'”

What a glorious thought! The fact that when our time on earth is done, we get to live in Heaven and sing praises to our Heavenly Lord forever, is so incredibly comforting and also mind-boggling at the same time. It’s hard for us to imagine forever or eternity. What I do know is that when I sing these lyrics I get a smile on my face every time because even though it is hard to fathom, I know that some day I will understand.

Just a few little thoughts on this cold Friday that I hope you will find encouraging. Merry Christmas everyone! Try out Carrie Underwood Holiday Radio. You won’t regret it! 🙂

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