Hold Him Dear

Carry the King

I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to cradle Jesus when He was first born. There in a quiet, peaceful space, a newborn baby was celebrated.  He was a king.  And for the first few moments, only the livestock were privy to the knowledge of His arrival. Oh, to have been near Him in the early moments! To have studied His face, fingers, and toes!  I can only imagine having been one of His first visitors!  The wonder and majesty of it all!  Mary would have gently handed over her newborn son for me to hold. When she whispered His name, would it have sent a chill to my core signaling this child was the Messiah? Would He have cried or fussed? How carefully I would have accepted Him into my arms and drew Him close to my heart.

Gaze upon Him.

His soft baby skin, now smooth and perfect, someday would hold the scars of His crucifixion.  His hands would bear a carving of my name.  As I studied Him, the Savior would be staring back right into my eyes.  His eyes host love unspeakable. There would be an unspoken intimacy. As I would behold the Savior, He would gaze back at me.  Peering into my soul and calling me to a deeper relationship.  Though I would have been enamored with His tiny frame and gentle coos, somehow His gaze would have conveyed that I am the apple of His eye.

Hold Him.

To have held him would have invoked the most amazing metaphor.

Power and Peace.

Justice and Joy.

Deliverance and the Divine.

Salvation and Sanctuary.

How could a child so small and dependent prove His dominion and royalty wrapped in my arms? This One, swaddled in rags, would become the King of my life.  My Savior.  My Friend. 

Carry the King

Though I wasn’t a first visitor at His birth, I know the fullness of His story.  A baby, who grew in wisdom and stature, became a man, whose ministry shook the planet with love.  Though I may never have had access to the nursery of the Christ, I daily have the responsibility and the privilege to carry the King wherever I go.  As do you, dear sister. 

It is our greatest call to carry the King.  Carry Him to all the world who needs to hear His story of grace. Carry Him with the same gentleness and care you would when carrying an infant.  Not because He is fragile, but because you are mindful of what you are doing, where you are stepping and how you are acting around a wee one.  Carry the King in such a way that you will show Him off to anyone who will peer into your arms to find out what precious cargo you embrace.  And always, always carry Him close to your heart. 

Carry the King.