December 1, 2006

 

 

All the southern Ohioans, the small and the tall,

Have been given a summons, given a call

To come out of darkness and deadness of soul

And enter His brightness and a life that is whole.

As we forsake the former and acquire the new,

A destiny is waiting for me and for you. 

A life full of purpose and full of pizzazz

Is this sublimest of gifts, the best that God has.

So why would we tarry?  And why would we run? 

Why not embrace the gift of His Son? 

See, sin is a slavemaster.  Sin is a pain. 

Holding to sin leaves us nothing to gain.

But that’s what sin is – forsaking God’s glory. 

We exchange Him for “self” and tell our own story

Of how great life is without all His meddling,

Sampling the options that our world is peddling.

Our lot is so sad if He’d leave us to that. 

We might as well quit and lay ourselves flat

With our hands folded neatly holding a lily. 

When you’re spiritually dead, who cares to look silly?

But into the muck of human despair,

The Father sent us His Son, His divine heir

Of all His glory, majesty, love: 

The Word of the Father sent from above.

From heaven to cradle, and cradle to live

A life among mortals in order to give

Us hope beyond hope.  And then on that tree

Paid off our sin debt and from sin set us free.

And then even facing down death in this duel,

Immanuel arose forever to rule

Over all of creation; He is now king,

Over heaven and earth – over everything.

Now tell me again… why we spend all our love

On things that perish, that don’t come from above?

Is the fact that He loves us such a small thing

That we don’t mean the words to the songs that we sing? 

That we live out our lives however we choose? 

That it does not matter the joy that we lose? 

That the point of Christmas is commercialization,

And of the hope found in Christ we’ve no realization?

Let us instead take the hope that He’s sent,

Before all of the time of His invite we’ve spent. 

And let us discern that the way to God’s heart,

Is to receive Jesus as Lord and make a new start. 

Becoming His child is what it’s about;

Being made new from within to without. 

Placing your trust in Jesus alone,

And knowing you have a heavenly home.

As long as we’re keeping it straight in our heads,

And aren’t quick to forget it when asleep in our beds,

I do not mind saying that Christmas is great,

And that the fun that we have is something first rate. 

But let’s remember it’s a time to bow down

And give Jesus all glory and give Him the crown

Of all of our love and tender emotion. 

To Him let us give our earnest devotion.

Let’s turn our eyes to Bethlehem’s light,

Away from the darkness and away from the night. 

Let’s open our hearts to the hope He can give

And turn from stubborn self in order to live

With all of the purpose a child of the King

Can know.  Then to our lives He will bring

All of heaven’s great glory which only is known

In a life that is sown up with the Son of God’s own.

Though we wrap up our presents, put them under the tree,

Feelings of hope, joy, and peace overflow within me. 

May your heart also know Immanuel’s light,

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

“…An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.’  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ^‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel’ – which means, ‘God with us.’  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.  And he gave Him the name Jesus” (Matthew 1:20-25 NIV, see also Isaiah 7:14).

(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past eleven years.  He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church, which meets on Sunday mornings at the Ariel Theatre.  He may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).