Alive Remains the Manger Scene
[Guest post by Rebecca Lamarche: Rebecca also blogged recently, but when I received this beautiful poem from her, I knew it had to be the final post in this Christmas guest post series! Merry Christmas, everyone!]
ALIVE REMAINS THE MANGER SCENE
Sweet Baby Jesus asleep on the hay
With reverence I kneel down before You today
In worship and prayer, tears fall from my eyes;
For You’re God – yet and infant – with soft gentle cries.
I wonder – were Your infant tears shed for me?
Because of my sin, and the great penalty
That I could not, on my own ever pay?
Were they tears of compassion that first Christmas Day?
Please take from my hands the gold that I bring,
It’s the honors I’ve taken for every good thing
That I’ve done or I’ve said or I’ve given away;
For these trophies are Yours, Little King in the hay.
Please take from my heart this frankincense, too,
For all of life’s pleasures – for me – come from You;
My dreams, my adventures, my thanks raised in song…
The passions of love come from You all along.
This myrrh…this You’ve already taken from me:
The grief of my sin that You bore on that tree.
The sapling You planted and watered and fed
So that it would be sturdy to hold You up dead.
Sweet manger scene – the world celebrates
The King of all Kings, the Greatest of Greats!
And so as I, too, lay me down now to sleep
I ask, Baby Jesus, my soul You will keep.
Yes, I lay that down too at the foot of Your bed,
The hay in the trough where Your mom lay Your head.
As she shivered, she wrapped You up warm in her shawl
With the love of a mother – most tender of all.
I wonder: was she extra gentle and kind?
Knowing that one day Your hands men would bind,
As they whip You and beat You and mock Your great Name?
Did she shiver with dread until that cold day came?
I wonder what Joseph felt holding Your hand?
Did he question how he would teach God how to stand
For honor and righteousness? Teach Jehovah to pray?!
Yes, what were his thoughts as he stared at the hay?
The shepherds that trembled with fear, then with awe,
How their hearts must have swelled as they gazed at the straw!
Were they young boys who grew up to meet You again?
And to bow down once more, when You both were grown men?
Or were they weathered and old? Downtrodden by life?
Did they rush breathless home to tell children and wife
That first Christmas Story, as they gathered round
Their meal, talking of the great Gift they had found?
The Magi who saw the New Star in the sky
Quickly packed up their camels and left by and by.
Did they hear from the trade routes what travelers said?
The Messiah King’s birthplace an animal’s shed?!
Did their dreams dance to music they never had heard:
What meaning…this star? This vision? This Word?
Their hearts must have pounded with joy in their chest
When they found You – by this time – a toddler at breast!
The first Gentile converts; they believed You were King
Over all earthly Kingdoms, redemption to bring.
The Messiah! For ages, this hope to be free!
And here by this young girl – his mother – was He!
Did they understand the true worth of their treasure?
That their gifts would outlive them for time without measure?
For centuries later, someone just like me
Would bow near a manger scene on bended knee.
And offer my Savior, the God-Babe, in the hay
The very same gifts that they brought Him that day:
The gold of my trophies, my incense of prayer,
the myrrh of my life I present to You there.
Then HARK! I hear angels announcing again:
“A Savior is born in the hearts of all men
Who will simply believe He’s Redeemer and King…
And on bended knee just their faith they will bring!”
As an Author and Bible Teacher, Rebecca Lamarche hangs her cowgirl hat in beautiful Austin, TX. She has a passionate faith, undaunted by life’s many challenges that have made her road steep and rocky at times. She walks in intimacy and power with Jesus, shepherding women through healing, deliverance and wholeness through her ministry, Spirit Alive Women. Her new book,I BORROWED DAVID’S HARP is a collection of personal worship psalms and stories, much like David, who sang his experiences in poetry and praise to the God in whom he placed his trust.
This guest post is part of the first-ever Devotional Diva Christmas guest post series entitled, “The Gifts God Has Given You.” This is the final piece in that series.
