prepared hearts

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

 

Last night as we were sitting around our Advent wreath reading from the Bible and singing Christmas songs this line hit me from "The First Noel": "That hath made Heaven and earth from nought". He made it all out of nothing. When was the last time you made something from nothing? Or, even had an original idea? A friend of mine once said of me (and if he is reading this he just might remember it, Travis) that I was a dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants. Meaning I used others ideas, retooled them, and came out smelling sweet and looking good. He's right. Even my jokes are old and my artistic ability is just OK. But then I look at a snowflake. Or a cloud. Or a pine forest after a frost. Or a sunset. Or hear a child's laughter. Or hear an opera singer. Or see a rainbow...you get where I'm going, right. King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9 "there is nothing new under the sun". What we do or are capable of doing may seem amazing, but it pales in comparison to the author of...everything. The inventor of laughter and humor. The creator of oceans and palm trees and weird birds and monkey butts. Things we couldn't have comprehended...God created. Brains...wow. LOVE...He made that. We just goof around with it. So, He who set the planets in motion and spun the universes with His own hand also sought a friendship with us, His best and most promising creation. His son, Jesus, showing again what they intended love to be, gave up Heaven to become small like us. But, unlike us, He loved and gave in ways we again couldn't comprehend. And then he gave and loved in the most passionate and intimate and perfect way possible...a completely unique way...

"and with His blood mankind hath bought"