"Strengthen the Feeble Hands, Steady the Knees That Give Way."
Archive for December, 2007
The Simple Entrance
Dec 20th
It was quiet in the shaded parts of the manger except for the peaceful stirrings of the baby boy all had come to see. He lay there wrapped tightly in swaddling cloths, held close to his mother’s heart—a sign.
Creation took time to bow before that little boy who seemed so new and yet—was ancient. He was so small, so young, not able to speak or walk, and yet all things were created through Him. He could not feed Himself and yet He was the bread of life. In Him all things hold together and He is our life.
In the manger He who authored the play became its main character and that has changed everything.
Before the manger there was the Garden but before the Garden there was eternity past. Before the simple entrance into a bleeding world Christ Jesus had divine existence in glory untold. This He laid aside for us—in the manger.
One more powerful than the storms cooed to offer thanks and cried to communicate His need. One more awesome than the furious seas curled his tiny hand around His father’s thumb and waited patiently as He was cleaned.
It is no accident that He started where we started but He More >
Before the Manger—The Garden
Dec 14th
The little baby boy cooing so mildly in the manger made of weakness and nakedness and poverty a crown. The Son of Man, the Son of God, smiling so sweetly in the manger affirmed that He had not forgotten His promises.
But before the manger—the Garden.
Our need arose in the Garden of Eden and was soothed in the Manger. Our weakness and our helpless condition begged His mercy and He did not despise our need. It was our cry He uttered at birth, and our pain He came to bear. It was we who were naked and poor—so the Son of God joined us in our misery.
Beyond the romantic sentimentality of ribbons and bows, beyond those things we want and will not get, we know and believe that God has come to be—with us. That makes all the difference on Christmas Day.
But before the manger—the Garden.
For in the Garden the human drama took a turn for the worse. In the Garden it became all too obvious that the works of our hands yield death. In the Garden our nakedness was exposed and our wickedness made known. In the Garden our sins cried out to a loving God and in His love More >
He Made Me Beautiful
Dec 3rd
I dreamed one night that I received a guided tour through The Artist’s workshop. Again and again I might hear him remark, “Isn’t it beautiful!” And I confessed, “It is beautiful!”
“That mountain over there, why was it made?” I asked.
“Why, it was made for My pleasure of course.”
“And are You pleased with it?”
“Yes, I am pleased with it.”
“But it does nothing. It contributes so little to life. It can’t praise You and it can’t love You.”
“Oh, it does a great deal. It allows the snow to rest on its peaks till spring returns. It opens its caves to the weary animals and channels the streams. It stands where I have placed it and bears the scars I have given it these many years.”
“I understand now why you made the mountain, but me, why was I made?”
“You were made for my pleasure of course. The crown of my creation.”
“And are you pleased with me?”
“You say it with doubt bending your voice but I tell you, YES! I am pleased with you.”
“But I am no great mountain, nor do I do such great things.”
“You are who I have made you and that is a great thing. My Son died for you and More >
