King of the Carols - Once in Royal David's City - King Eternal

 

Children can follow too

1 Once in royal David's city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little child.

2 He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall:
with the poor, and mean, and lowly,
lived on earth our Savior holy.

3 And thro' all his wondrous childhood
he would honor and obey,
love and watch the lowly maiden
in whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be
mild, obedient, good as he.

4 And our eyes at last shall see him,
thro' his own redeeming love;
for that child so dear and gentle
is our Lord in heav'n above:
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.

 

Cecil Frances Alexander, who wrote our Carol, loved children and wrote words they could understand and relate to. We are missing out one of her verses - as many hymn books do:

For He is our child-hood’s pattern,
Day by day like us He grew,
He was little, weak, and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew,
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.

Here Cecil reminds little children that they too can be followers of Jesus. She's probably thinking about his obedience to Mary and Joseph after he'd been found in the temple. We read in Luke  1 verse 51, "Then Jesus went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them."

Let's never forget that children can be followers of Jesus as much as adults, and let's never despise every sweet step they take in following their heavenly Master.

 

 Looking forward

But the verse we consider today looks forward to the final destiny of God's people and reminds us where Jesus is leading us. Beyond this little world and beyond temporary time, Jesus "leads his children on to the place where he is gone."

 

Cecil wrote these lines in 1848 when life was far more brutal and uncertain than today. Here are the solemns stat. In 1848 the average lifespan was about 42 (see HERE).  Today it is about 82. That means Cecil and her generation would have been surrounded by lots of folk dying at a relatively young age. 

People in ages past contemplated their mortality more than we do for death and premature death was a far more regular part of their daily experience.

 

We, by contrast, expect every cough to be cured and every and illess to be remedied by medicine - and so it happens, we are often blessed with a cure.

But the flip side of medical advances is that we are far less likely to meditate on our mortality and far less likely to ponder the world to come.

A Question

How often do we think of heaven, where "our eyes at last shall see him, through his redeeming love?" How often do we set our eyes on heavenly things, where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father on high? Will I remember this Christmas that the "child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heav'n above?" And will I remember that this world is not my home, for the Lord Jesus is leading me "to the place where he is gone" where mansions have been prepare?

 

It's so easy to get caught up in the here and now. Especially at Christmas. May the Lord enable us to lift our eyes to heaven, where we belong. 

 

A SONG FOR THE DAY

So from a carol to a song that fixes our minds on our glorious home to come. Sing "There is a Day" HERE. 

 

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Our loving Father in heaven,

We thank you for every medical advance that has made our lives more free of pain and longer in length. 

 

We remember today that it would be all too easy to forget that this world is not our home. So remind us that the babe of Bethlehem is leading us not only on this short earthly journey, but ultimately to heaven, where he has gone and where he reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Teach us to look up when the world is looking down.

For we ask these things in Jesus' Name

Amen