When He Comes

by Cynthia Ruchti

We write because of the way writing has moved us. We write because The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And His coming changed everything.

WHEN HE COMES

© 2013 Cynthia Ruchti

THIS is the world

He wanted to save?

This one?

THIS world?

This ragged place?

This twisted mix of pain we feel

   And pain we cause,

This tilting sphere of stress tattoos

   Of “no one loses”

Yet…

   we…

      all…

         do.

WE’RE the ones God thought worth saving?

   Brazen disregard and graven

        Thoughts that masquerade as love,

So far removed from gratitude

   And worship of the Most High God.

So dark against His blinding light.

   No sight, no listening ears,

      No hand-raised cheers,

         No

            Hope

               At all

              Without Him.

A pure-skinned Child, He gave.

A Child!

A little One.

Infant.

Babe.

How could He trust His Son to US?

   We’ve messed up everything we’ve touched.

We’ve lost what He created for us,

   Stomped on

     Stripped out

        Bleached and beached

The grace He planned

     Eons ago.

He watched us waste it.

He watched us waste.

He watched us.

He watched.

He…loved us anyway.

And sent His Son.

   A Light

   So bright

   It split the sky in two that night.

And you

   And I

Were gifted Hope

   With His

       first  

           cry.

It wouldn’t be His last.

And all He would ever ask

    is that you…

Come. Come see the place

    Where the young Child lies.

Come see eternity

    In His bright eyes.

Come taste the sweetness

    Mercy provides

In the breath of this Holy Babe.

Come, find your rest

      from the messes you’ve made.

Come find your place

      In the warmth of His shade.

Come, find your joy

   In the strength of His Name.

Come.

The Child’s first word—

A sound like bells—

A call to worship—

Come.

  

So we come, because He did

And when He came,

He changed everything.

We come and kneel

At the Name of JESUS.

We bow

At the feet of JESUS.

We sing

To the Holy One, JESUS.

We listen

With our whole hearts to JESUS.

We worship

The One who came—JESUS.

And we are

Not

The

Same.




Cynthia Ruchti is an author and speaker who tells stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through novels and novellas, devotions, nonfiction, and speaking events for women and writers. Among her latest releases are When the Morning Glory Blooms (novel from Abingdon Press Fiction), Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices (nonfiction from Abingdon Press Christian Living), and Mornings With Jesus 2014 (devotion compilation from Guideposts). www.cynthiaruchti.com or www.facebook.com/CynthiaRuchtiReaderPage .