Key Observation:
The Word, The Life, and The Light has been made flesh. One of the mysteries of all time.
Devotion:
I find myself wondering why from time to time. Why did the Lord do all of this for me? Why would He care that much? He came to be rejected, knowing the death He was to face, and still He came. I do not know why, except that He chose to love us.
I am thankful. I do not understand, but thankfulness swells endlessly from my heart. What a God we serve! From eternity past He chose to come to the cross, to give himself freely that I might live. I will cling to the old rugged cross!
Of course the tragedy is that the world rejected Him. The verse earlier in John says: “that all men through him might believe.” Freely He was given, coming as a babe in a manger, going faithfully all the way to the cross, that the world might be saved. But the world has rejected Him, and even among us who remember, how many of us are really living for Him? The scripture asks the question: when the Son of Man returns will He find faith on the earth?
As for me and my house, we will be found faithfully waiting for Him. I am so thankful for the moment to moment peace He brings to my soul as I anxiously watch the evils in our world unfold. To know there is a sense to it all, that there is a Master who is very much in charge, Someone who makes my life understandable. These are reasons to be thankful.
Early in my Christian life, when I was still a new Christian (19 or 20?) I asked the Lord to take care of my yet unborn children, to watch after them, to bring them up in Him, with all their descendants. I look with amazement and am overwhelmed with thankfulness as I see what He has accomplished. I have two wonderful daughters married to husbands fervent to be faithful to God, and all my six grandchildren are being raised to love their Lord. What a God I serve! Who is He that He should care what I prayed? The mystery of it all overwhelms me. Who are we that the Word would become flesh for us? What a wonder!
The Old Rugged Cross
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best,
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down,
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
To bear it to dark Calvary.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down,
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
Such a wonderful beauty I see
For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down,
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true,
Its shame and approach gladly bear;
Then He'll call me someday to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I'll share.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down,
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
Lyrics: George Bennard
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