Two rough-hewn wooden structures tell so much about our Lord:
The manger where the baby lay and the cross on which He died.
Though God Himself, Christ chose the birth of every mother’s child
Though God Himself, Christ chose the death that no one on earth would choose.
Each rough-hewn part of who I am wants to tell about Christ, too:
The very words I try to speak and the deeds I try to do.
Though earthly man, I chose rebirth to become a child of God;
Though earthly man, I chose the death of all my Godless ways.
Though God Himself, Christ chose to become human;
Though human, I’ve become a child of God.
Each rough-hewn part of who I am wants to tell about Christ, too:
The very words I try to speak and the deeds I try to do.
Though earthly man, I chose rebirth to become a child of God;
Though earthly man, I chose the death of all my Godless ways,
Of all my Godless ways.
About This Song:
If you’ve been following this blog for a while or you’ve gone back and looked at some of the previous posts, you may have noticed my fondness for combining Christmas and Easter ideas in one song. Today’s song is another one.
I hope my comparison of Jesus’ birth as a human baby and the Christian’s rebirth as a Child of God is thought-provoking. And that the comparison of Christ’s voluntary human death and the voluntary death of the Christian’s sins is thought-provoking as well.
Some animals grow into adulthood rapidly. We have a miniature dachshund puppy who’s grown now. In many ways she still looks like a puppy. Yet I can look back to what a difference a month or two made when she was young in seeing the transformation into a fully grown dog.
Although we can see the changes in people, too, they take years to reach physical adulthood–and even then some of them aren’t fully “grown up.”
Growing into maturity as a Child of God is similar. Except it takes even longer than maturing physically. We won’t mature spiritually–not fully–until the end of our earthly lives.
Sometimes I imagine God getting frustrated with me for the slowness of my growth, but then I think about His fondness for children. Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.”
God doesn’t expect instant changes or huge spurts of spiritual growth, but He doesn’t want me to get stagnant, either. So I prefer to think of Him as cheering me on each time He sees any sign of growth. Even the tiniest one.
A Christian can grow frustrated if he looks at what he wants to become and and frets over how far he is from the goal. Better to look backwards at where he started and note the progress he’s made.
If you’re a Christian, are you growing? If you’re not a Christian, wouldn’t you like to have God as your heavenly father, encouraging you to live the most meaningful life possible?
Free lead sheets (lyrics, tune, and chords) are available for many of my songs. Click on the Lead Sheets tab at the top of this page to see whether one is available for this song. Videos for many of my songs, some recorded at home and some at our church’s nursing home ministry, can be accessed at my website, RogerBruner.com, under the Listen tab.
Look for me again next Wednesday. Better still, subscribe to receive these weekly posts by email.
Best regards,
Roger
Links you might be interested in:
As I Come Singing. . . 