A Christmas to Come

A Christmas to come

Christ will descend

But so different from before,

Angels will be there

And there’ll be fanfare too

But expect a whole lot more.

No baby in a manger

No shepherds in a field

No wise men from afar,

But the King of kings

And the Lord of lords

He will be his own star.

The Light of lights

In splendid radiance

Lumens far exceeding the sun,

Coming this time

But not to Bethlehem

But to usher in his kingdom.

Planned in eternity

Before time began

Planned by the Godhead Three,

To be staged in the air

In that Christmas to come

When every eye shall see.

No room they say

In that first Christmas

No room for the little child,

During that tourist boom

In Bethlehem’s town

Room for Jesus was denied.

’Twas planned that way

In the first advent

But not in the one to come,

The world will know

Without a doubt

At the coming of God’s own Son.

  

A time of great joy

And exceeding sorrow

Depending on whose you are,

All who are redeemed

Will be with Christ

All others will be barred.

No sprucing up

And spring cleaning

No time to do all that,

In a flash

Like the speed of lightning

Prophecy will be fact.

As you celebrate

This yuletide season

The advent of God’s Son

Be prepared

In your heart and soul

For that Christmas time to come.

Confess your sins

And repent of them too

Invite Jesus into your heart,

Walk with the Saviour

Come apart from sin

And there you have your start.

For should that Christmas come

And you’re not saved

You’ll surely not be amused,

Pay attention now

To your heart’s condition

And on this occasion, don’t refuse.

Stewart Russell © December 2017

Let’s Reflect

 

Let’s reflect for a moment or two,

Let’s reflect just me and just you,

No other invitees as we contemplate

The seriousness of the season we celebrate.

I mean Christmas, as you very well know

A time of much fussing and a time of show

But missing its meaning most of the time

Evidenced by the things to which we incline.

Spring-cleaning even though it’s winter

Rushing around like a hundred metre sprinter

Traffic piling up for mile after mile

Commuters fretting and fuming all of the while.

A dash to the supermarket, a run to the store,

Shopping list exhausted but must pick up more,

Money short but must make it stretch,

This NRSL imposition is really a wretch.

The house to arrange and the lights to put up,

Everything to be set out, every plate, every cup,

The ham to bake, the turkey and pork too,

Jug-jug, black cake and pudding to name a few.

Ironing to be done for early morning church

Consisting of dresses and scarves, pants and shirts,

All this to be done in a short matter of time,

Such is the focus to which we are inclined.

Christmas eve day, what a rush, what a pace!

What a frantic almost panic-stricken chase!

Will I make it to church with all this to do?

I don’t think I will, and maybe, neither will you.

We promise this will not happen year after year

But we still get trapped as though unaware

And it appears to me it’s getting increasingly worse,

It’s like we are afflicted with some prescribed curse.

So the time to reflect is this moment right now,

Take a short break if you can manage that somehow,

Step back from this scene of which you are a part

And let God show you the condition of your heart.

Let this Christmas be the start of something new

A new perspective, a new focus and a new you

And as you reflect I will also reflect too

And let the star of Bethlehem come into view.

I pray the trimmings of Christmas will pale in view

And this one would be different from any that you knew,

That the priorities you now have will be rearranged

To a Christ-centred focus as your life is changed.

There’ll be spring cleaning, yes, but of the heart,

Deep in the inner man is just where it would start

And Christmas would mean so much more to you,

You’d be grateful a little reflection changed your view.

Stewart Russell © December 2017