On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
nine ladies dancing

On the ninth day of Christmas we celebrate a gift that has a couple of different thoughts behind it. Some say that this day is a celebration of the nine classes of angels. While this is possible, I believe there is a little better way to approach this one. A more widely accepted meaning of these nine ladies dancing is the gift of the 9 Fruits of the Spirit. So we’ll look at it from that angle.

Found in Galatians 5:22-23 we see these wonderful fruits of the Spirit on display:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This gift is a gift that has no boundary. It’s a gift that has no limit. True we limit it to nine qualities or characteristics but each one can go on forever. No one will ever tell you that these nine ladies need to stop dancing! There’s no law against this expression of life.

The gift of the ninth day of Christmas is a gift that can be seen in full view in the person of Jesus. When we move beyond Christmas morning to this the ninth day of Christmas it’s tempting to forget what it’s all about. But this is a gift that needs no special season or time of year. These gifts are freely given not just during these bitter cold mornings but throughout the year.

Take time today to be filled by these fruits of the Spirit and celebrate this day that the Lord has made for you.

Have a Merry Christmas all year long with this gift!