God with Man

 

 

Yonder in cattle stall

Lay a baby most fair,

God with man has come to dwell

Among the cattle there.

 

The shepherds as invited

Kneel before his bed,

A crude manger for his body

And dried hay for his head.

 

The animals low in tandem

Sometimes in unison too,

No harmony could be detected

But they never knew.

 

Wise men would visit later

But for now only shepherds came,

Having been told by the angels

In a glorious refrain.

 

 

Glory to God in the highest

And on earth, peace!

Meanwhile the wise men were noting

A peculiar star in the east.

 

When they finally saw him

The baby Jesus, I mean,

He was then resting in a house

This was not the manger scene.

 

I wonder what it was really like

To have been present at his birth,

What a wonder that must have been!

“God has come to earth.”

 

Today I remind my readers

It can be a dream come true,

For the Holy Spirit has come to dwell

In persons like me and you.

 

 

No, not in a manger stall

But in temples as we are,

So we can be near and dear to him

Just like the wise men that came from afar.

 

What a privilege for the highest

And the lowest of all the earth!

We can be one in Christ Jesus

On account of the “new birth”.

 

To be “born again”, as Jesus said,

In his discourse with Nicodemus,

Today that can be you and me

By simply accepting Jesus.

 

There is room for the simple shepherd

And for kings and wise men too,

God’s great gift was sent to all

And if you are a skeptic, even you.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2019