My Favorite Christmas Word

There are many words to choose from:

Love: “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (I John 4:10 NLT)

Joy: “I have told you this [about abiding in God’s love] so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11 NIV)

Peace: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27 NLT)

Came: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10 NASB)

Gave: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17 NLT)

Save: She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21 NIV)

I love each of these words, but my favorite is “with.” The Divine intention was not merely to provide the redemptive offering of Christ’s life, but also to take up permanent residence with us. Jesus said, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.” John 14:23 NLT

This part of God’s plan was expressed by the prophet Isaiah many years before Jesus ever came. “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” (Isaiah 7:14 NLT)

For me, it is not enough to have the Baby in a manger, confined to a few celebratory days at the end of the year. I need God with me every day! I remember well an old hymn, the words of which were written in 1890 by the blind Fanny Crosby. My mother would sing this and other gospel songs as she worked around the house or washed milk cans in the dairy barn.

I must have the Savior with me, for I dare not go alone,
I must feel His presence near me, and His arm around me thrown.

Refrain:
Then my soul shall fear no ill, let Him lead me where He will,
I will go without a murmur, and His footsteps follow still.

I must have the Savior with me, for my faith, at best, is weak;
He can whisper words of comfort, that no other voice can speak.

I must have the Savior with me, in the onward march of life,
Thro’ the tempest and the sunshine, thro’ the battle and the strife.

I must have the Savior with me, and His eye the way must guide,
Till I reach the vale of Jordan, till I cross the rolling tide."

To the modern ear, these words may sound quaint, but if one knows times of weakness and tempest and battle—as Fanny and my mother did—having their Savior-Friend with them was a great source of help and comfort. It was not weakness for them to anticipate “crossing over Jordan” (dying and entering heaven). When life is circumscribed by hardship, it is natural to look toward the time when fellowship Him will be unhindered by any human limitation.

God is with me! What a Christmas gift! What an everyday gift!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotation marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible; used by permission of the Lockman Foundation.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com