Poison can be a liquid, a powder, a gas–or it can be somethin’ in your head.”
–Ernest Haycox (Canyon Passage)
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
–Romans 15:13 (HCSB)
——————–
Bring forth the cheer and joy for the season is upon us. This is a great time of the year for this is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ. In our feeble brains it is hard for us to begin to even comprehend this event. The Almighty, humbled Himself and came to earth. The Christ-child, fully man and fully God. The miracle is beyond understanding.
With Christmas we have the playing of songs. Most of which, anymore, are secular. Some of these are good, some marginal, and some utterly ridiculous and disdainful. However, there are those wonderful carols that we tend to save for this time of year. Here is one, written by William Harold Neidlinger, that we seldom hear.
In the little village of Bethlehem
There lay a child one day
And the sky was bright
With a holy light
O’er the place where Jesus lay.
God sent His only begotten Son to earth. The Son of God willfully laid aside the glory that was His in heaven and came to earth for the purpose of saving man from his sins. He left heaven and came to a manger in a stall in a small Judean town of Bethlehem. He became helpless at this moment and it was up to Joseph to protect and care for the boy. However, we cannot see in the spiritual realm, but in my imagination there was a tremendous guard of angels set around the birth of Christ. Satan would not be allowed to touch Him there. Maybe it wasn’t seen, but there was a holy light.
Humble birthplace
But O
How much God gave to us that day!
From the manger bed what a path has led
What a perfect holy way.
The way of Jesus was indeed a holy way. He rose from that bed of hay to one day becoming a well-known figure in Palestine. So much so, that those of the synagogue feared Him. God set forth the beginnings of the deliverance of mankind in a manger bed years before and then the path that Jesus trod led Him to the cross for the salvation of man. In God’s way, it was the “perfect holy way.” Now, man can go back to the Father. Man can have redemption. It began in the little town of Bethlehem.
Alleluia
O how the angels sang!
Alleluia
How it rang!
And the sky was bright
With a holy light
‘Twas the birthday of a King.
It is our custom, on a birthday, to adorn a cake with candles. But think, ponder if you will–the birthday of Jesus, the stars were His candles. If you have never heard this song it is one that is powerful, especially when the chorus is sung. The birthday of the King is proclaimed loudly and exuberantly! Go back and be with the angels for a moment; join in the song and exalt the birth of Jesus.