Child of Glory

This king, servant to be
How fittingly humble, his birth
This child, baby so small
Savior of all of the earth

How beautiful this night
It's the glorious birth of Christ

Child of glory, infant holy
Humbly I approach your throne
Peaceful babe and awesome savior
I will live for you alone

This lord, his parents so poor
His inheritance, glory above
This babe, the earth's only hope
Grown up to show us true love

How beautiful this night
It's the glorious birth of Christ

Child of glory, infant holy
Humbly I approach your throne
Peaceful babe and awesome savior
I will live for you alone

Lord, I love you, Lord, I need you
I will live for you alone
Lord, I love you, Lord, I need you
I will live for you alone

Lord, I love you, Lord, I need you
I will live for you alone
Lord, I love you, Lord, I need you
I will live for you alone

Child of glory, infant holy
Humbly I approach your throne
Peaceful babe and awesome savior
I will live for you alone

I will live for You alone. What a bold promise, one we will never be able to keep. Perhaps the words should read: I will live for me alone. That's more like it, that's more like the words of my heart, more like the actions of my day. Me first when I wake up, me first when I drive my kids to school, me first at the grocery store, me first when putting my kids to bed, me first when I lay down to sleep. We might try each day to put others first, especially if we are married or have children. Oftentimes out of necessity, our children or spouse come first, but even then I find my heart bitter that they came before me.

I'm the hungry one, I just made all of this food, why do I have to get up for the tenth time to get something for you?

I'm the exhausted one. Did you see all that I did today? Won't you just go to sleep so I can have ten minutes to myself before I collapse in sleep?

I'm the lonely one. I've been talking to a three-year-old all day long. Can't I please just have five minutes of conversation with your dad without you interrupting?

The world would tell us these are reasonable requests. After all, being a parent is hard. We deserve a break; we deserve to have some time to ourselves. And certainly God has built time and space for us to care for ourselves, that is why He created the Sabbath. But we were born with a heart's cry of me first. Spend any amount of time with a child and you will see that this is at the core of his being. It's why they hate sharing, it's why they hate waiting, it's why they demand to be first in line. We were born with me-centeredness in our hearts.

But Jesus, this King, this servant to be was born with the heart of God. This child of glory, infant holy was born with a heart of love for others, with a selflessness that could only be found in the Savior. Born into a selfish world, a world that for thousands of years, had cruelly been destroying one another to further their own ambitions, their own gain, Jesus comes as a peaceful babe and an awesome Savior. Jesus comes, setting aside His glory, setting aside His heavenly inheritance, setting aside His power and position. Jesus puts Himself aside in pursuit of you, in pursuit of me.

He was once Lord of all, and now He is a tiny baby born to parents so poor, with inheritance glory above. He chose poverty; He chose to leave a glorious inheritance behind. He chose this humble life for this incredibly selfish people. He knew we would choose ourselves over Him, but He came to us anyway. Can you imagine choosing to give up an amazing inheritance, a comfortable existence, to come and love a people who you knew would not ever love or serve you in return? Thank goodness we don't have to imagine; this is just what Jesus did.

While we were enemies of God, He came to us, He lived as a servant to us, He died for us. And in doing so He gave us His righteousness, He gave us His heart, He gave us His selflessness. The only reason we are able to live for God, to live for others, is because Jesus came and gave us His holiness. Because we see the selfless love of God, we give Him our love in return. Because we know the selfless life of Jesus, we seek to selflessly live our lives for others. Because Jesus came, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us, and because the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we are able to set ourselves aside and love who God loves and serve who God serves. This Child of Glory came specifically to serve us, specifically to give us these gifts, and because He has come we have the tools to live selflessly in return.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can humbly approach the throne of Jesus. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we cry from the depths of our heart that we want to live for God alone. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we lay our selfishness aside, place our love for the Savior in our sights, and vow to live solely for Christ. We are still flesh, our selfish flesh still wars against the Holy Spirit, we still will fall short of our vow, but we also know the Holy Spirit holds the ultimate victory. Someday we will live for God alone, for others alone. Someday we will put ourselves aside completely, free of the me first mentality, and fully give ourselves to the one who gave Himself fully for us.

I am so thankful for that beautiful night oh-so-long ago. I'm so thankful for the glorious, selfless, humble birth of Christ. In God's incredibly selfless act, He freed me from my selfishness. In the humility of the Servant King, I am brought to my knees. I don't want my life to be about me; I want to live for others, even for my enemies, just as Jesus did. The gift of love on this glorious night long ago calls my heart to love in return. Lord, I love You because you loved me first. Lord, I need You because I selfishly want to always serve myself. I will live for You alone because You lived for me alone.

Thank you Jesus for Your selflessness. I seek every day to selflessly live for You. I will fall short, but You died for me knowing I would. Thank you for coming even though You knew the selfishness of my heart. I am humbled by Your selflessness. Lord, I love You. Lord, I need You. I will live for You alone.