Havergal: Our Saviour Christ was born

Monday, December 19, 2022
Meditation:
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
    and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly,
    and rejoice even with joy and singing:
the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it,
    the excellency of Carmel and Sharon,
they shall see the glory of the LORD,
    and the excellency of our God.
    —Isaiah 35:1-2 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Our Saviour Christ was born
That we might have the rose without the thorn;
    All through His desert life
He felt the thorns of human sin and strife.
His blessed feet were bare
To every hurting brier; He did not spare
One bleeding footstep on the way
He came to trace for us, until the day
The cruel crown was pressed upon the Brow,
That smiles upon us from His glory now.

    And so He won for us
Sweet, thornless, everlasting flowers thus!
    He bids our desert way
Rejoice and blossom as the rose to-day.
    There is no hidden thorn
In His good gifts of grace; He would adorn
The lives that now are His alone,
With brightness and with beauty all His own.
Then praise the Lord who came on Christmas Day
To give the rose and take the thorn away.
    ... Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), The Poetical Works of Frances Ridley Havergal, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1888, p. 165-166 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 35:1-2; Matt. 27:28-29; Mark 15:17-18; John 19:1-5; Heb. 6:7-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have redeemed all the suffering of Your people.

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