Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love shall be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
Christina
Rosetti was an English poet who wrote “Love Came Down at Christmas”, as an
expression of how she viewed the
Christmas story.
As what a
popular Christmas song says, “(Christmas) It’s the most wonderful time of the
year!”. And who does not agree to that? With all the festivities, dinners and
get-togethers to go to, decorations to put up, gifts to give and gifts to
receive, there really is no single Christmas activity that does not get
everyone excited.
For a
Christian, however, Christmas isn’t just about all those things, it is about
the condescension of God when, out of His abundant loving-kindness, He chose to
give us His Son so that we, a bunch of miserable sinners, will have that
eternal hope of having a life in Christ. The Scripture says in Psalm 113:5-6, “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who
sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”(NIV),
that the Lord is overall the earth. He is above all things. He is far out
of our reach, physically speaking. But when man needed “saving”, John 3:16
spells out beautifully how He humbled Himself by giving us His Only Son. Thus,
the Christmas story tells us of love coming down to reach us, to save us.
The days
leading to Christmas can easily swallow us with errands to run, dinners to
host, and gifts to wrap. But we can all have a different Christmas this year.
We’ve got several days more before that joyous day of December 25. How about
instead of spending most of your time wrapping presents, take some time to
UNWRAP YOUR HEART for the Saviour. Dig deep into the Bible narrating Christ’s
birth, ask God to open the eyes of your heart to receive the message of
Christmas in a whole new level this year, and have a heart of gratitude towards
God’s grand gesture of humility. Preparing ourselves to celebrate Christmas may
take time away from all the tasks that we still need to do. But those are just
tangible things. God can give us something that is not tangible – a renewed heart
that only has room for the Infinite God who first came to us as an Infant.
As author
Ann Voskamp wrote,"We’re ready for
Christmas, not when we have all the gifts, but when we are ready for Christ —
when we’re ready to give all of ourselves to Christ."
The book
of John in its first chapter says, “He came
unto his own, and his own received him not.”(KJV). Might you be willing to
turn it around by readying your heart to receive love that is CHRIST? This
Christmas, let us unwrap our hearts because LOVE CAME DOWN.
*Artwork inspired by the "Love Came Down" collection of dayspring.com
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