Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Ransom For Captives

I love it when words that I've been singing for years suddenly come alive.

It happened to me this morning, while it was still dark, and the day was new.

"O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captives...that mourn in lonely exile here..."

What I heard afresh is this: Emmanuel, God with us, He ransoms captives.

He is with the lonely, the bitter, the angry.

He's with the broken, the sick.

He's with those who have received bad news, or those without family.

He helps those who are confused.

He comforts those who are frightened.

He loves those who feel unlovable.

He feeds the hungry- quenches the thirst of those with nothing to drink.

He is Living Water in a dry and weary land...

What holds you captive?


Come.


He's ransomed this captive.


"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee... "

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've pondered this song much lately as well. It's so profound in so many ways!

What strikes me fresh this year is the longing tone of the song. As we celebrate advent, do we wait eagerly for Him? Yes, we celebrate advent for the coming of Christmas, but we are always in an advent of a different kind: waiting for His return. Do we wait with baited breath? Do our souls ache with missing Him and expand with loving Him and the hope of His coming? Or do we get impatient and whine at His "poor" timing? Worse, do we become apathetic and simply go about our business?

Yes, Lord Jesus, come! Come and ransom us from ourselves and all else that ensnares us!

Tracey said...

Beautiful. Praising Jesus that He ransomed this captive.

Kristin said...

Beautiful. And I loved the first commenter's question about waiting for Him with baited breath.

meh said...

It is such a beautiful concept...ransoming captives. It is so far above and beyond this world of self-focus. The beauty of our Savior! I have been ransomed...am being ransomed.

Erin said...

So beautiful! Thank you for the reminder. I was so captive...I was lost and didn't even know it. I was unhappy and overwhelmed. Despite all the things that I did wrong and no matter how many times I ignored him, he still chose to be born; he chose to live among us for a while; he who knew no sin became sin for me; he died for me and for you. Amazing. I am so thankful and I hope I never stop singing for him.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Erin

Melissa said...

Amen, girl. Beautiful.

Carpool Queen said...

I love the haunting melody of that carol. It's so descriptive of where we often find ourselves.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

stephanie j. said...

This is my favorite Christmas hymn/carol. Yesterday I was trying to explain to the two girlies why Jesus was rejected by those who were waiting for the Messiah. Oh that no one reject Him when the Holy Spirit tugged at their heart!!! I rejoice that I did not!

Gretchen said...

The more I fall in love with Jesus, the more I love this song. Wish you were here to play it for me.

Musings of a Housewife said...

This is a beautiful post! Thank you for this.

And also? I also always heard "and ransomed captives." What a hoot!

His Girl said...

be.yoo.ti. ful.

also, what Gretchen said.