Am I Israel?

I love Christmas. I love the season (it's snowing as I type), the atmosphere, the attitudes of people (attitudes seem to be better than the rest of the year, except for the guy who got mad at me yesterday and the guy who tried to rip me off), and I really love the music.

One of my favorite songs to sing is O Come, O Come Immanuel. One of the verses says

O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel

The other morning we were singing it during worship. And for some unexplainable reason it finally hit me that I'm Israel. It is me who Emmanuel came ransom. . .to ransom from the captivity of sin. He came to set me free from the bondage of Satan, world, and self.

AND. . .it is only Emmanuel who can save me. I can't save myself. I can't set myself free. My parents, as much as they love me, can't rescue me. My wife, as much as she would sacrifice for me, would not be able to snatch me from grasp of my sin.

Thinking of it in these terms encourages me to sing the chorus

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

So. . .yes, I am Israel. I do need rescuing. I do require a ransom be paid for my freedom.

I'm also glad my Savior - Emmanuel, God with us, in flesh - came to do just that.

Yeah, it's Christmas, but the birth of Jesus was only the beginning of the ransoming process.

Love you Jesus,
Israel


ps - here's a different take on the old song