I love it for the, for lack of a better term, advertisement of Jesus. For the talk of him, for the joy in celebrating his birthday, for the in and outs of the Christmas story, for the constant mention of Jesus.
I think that's why people think it would be so sweet to be/have Christmas all year long, to feel the way I feel right now. What would that look like? For people, myself, to be just a bit more excited than normal because of all of the love that we feel before, during, and after Jesus' birthday!
But, here's the thing. We are always in a state after Jesus' birthday. Because it happened. We are able to look back at it.
I've heard this song before, Mary Did You Know, but it wasn't until I heard it again last night and really, really listened to the lyrics that it just melted my heart. This little baby boy was born our Savior. Ponder on these lyrics with me:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would some day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would calm the storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God.
Mary did you know?
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am.
Doesn't this just make you see Jesus in a new light? It shows how human he was, being a little baby, but yet being God, being so powerful and able.
Jesus being born was planned before eternity just like our births were. God knew what he was doing. In Ephesians 1:5-14 (The Message) we are told:
******************************************************************************
"Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ (what pleasure he took in planning this!). He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people- free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free- signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life."
*******************************************************************************
In Christ, everything makes sense. I end with a poem:
"If our greatest need had been information,
God would have send us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Savior."
~Roy Lessin
No comments:
Post a Comment