“GOD WITH US” By Kathy Boecher

The world in pain and trouble lay, temptation all around,

But in a lowly feeding trough. a Savior could be found,

Born of a virgin, meek and mild and God’s own precious Son,

He took on earthly flesh and blood, with Him we would be one.

A stable filled with animals, would be his nursery,

His death would be upon a tree, He died for you and me,

His humble life was troublesome, He had no place to rest,

Yet in his short eventful life He gave to us His best.

When we feel lost and in distress, our hearts can jump for joy,

Because the man named Jesus, Christ, was born a baby boy,

He lived a life of poverty, experienced our pain

He rose again from death’s strong grip eternal life to gain.

So as we gaze upon that bed, that mass of smelly hay,

We see the God/Man, Jesus, Christ, who for our sins did pay,

He should have been upon a throne, but chose to live as we,

He died to pay the ransom price, the cost to set us free.

Emmanuel means God with us, He lived up to His name,

He didn’t come to win success or monetary gain,

He came to give us paradise, a gift beyond compare,

So, when we die, He’ll welcome us, within those gates up there.

The manger in the stable where Jesus would lay his little head, was most likely a trough made of stone, where the animals would refresh themselves with water or food. It was drooled over and licked by those same animals. It wasn’t a clean, luxurious bed, fit for the King of Creation. Animal dung would also surround the manger. The stable itself was probably a holding place for lambs that would someday be used for sacrifice in the temple.  Why would God choose this dirty, disgusting, simple and lowly place for His Son to be born? He could’ve come in glorious honor and majesty. With trumpets announcing His entrance into the cold, dark world. His angelic messengers could have gone to the leadership in Jerusalem to make way for the newborn King. He could’ve been wrapped in robes of purple to indicate His royalty. 

Instead, God chose this lonesome, desolate, filthy place. Was it to be symbolic of His coming to be the final sacrificial lamb without blemish? Was it so that God’s Son could experience life at its lowest level? Was His life of poverty, His lonely existence, His living as the average man of the time significant? Instead of a grand celebration and expensive gifts, this little baby came virtually without pomp and circumstance. Just another new kid on the block. Yet He was so much more than that. All of the prophesies about His birth, His early years, His suffering and shame were recorded and fulfilled by His coming to the world to be one of us.

When crowds would gather to hear His words, to be healed and ministered to, it was God talking, healing and teaching. When the scholars of the time questioned Him, He always had a lesson for them to learn through what He said. The pitiful slaughter of this unblemished lamb was not the final act of this story. He resurrected Himself to life, defeated death and the devil. He promised a new heaven and new earth at His next coming. Imagine the glory when He comes again. Jesus will be God with us for eternity. Come quickly, Lord, Jesus.