i wish...

"for just a moment
i wish i could have been there
to see Your first step, hear Your very first word
tell me, did You ever fall and scrape Your knee?
did You know Your wounds would one day heal the world?
for just one moment
i wish i could have seen You growing
learning the ways of a carpenter's son
just a little boy gazing at the stars --
did You remember creating every one?
if You passed by, would i have seen a child or a King?
or would i have known?

i wish i could have been there
my only wish is to see You face to face
i wish i could have been there
just to see You, Jesus, face to face

for just a moment
i wish i could have been there
when You left Your footprints upon the waves
to walk along beside You, never look away
just Your whisper and the wind and sea obey
to see You feed the people
to feel the healing in Your touch

to hear You pray in the garden alone
laying down Your will with each tear
to see You walk that lonely road
willing to die for me

and in that moment
i know i should have been there
You took my cross and gave Your life

but You live again!
i wish is could have been there
i wish that i could have seen You rise again

i wish i could have been there
my only wish is to see You face to face
someday i'll be there, i'm gonna be there
i'll see Your face, Your mercy and grace
someday, someday
i'm gonna see You, Jesus
face to face"

~ "wish"... joy williams

How desperately do we wish that we could have been there? I love thinking about if I had had the opportunity to be there and watch as Jesus grew up. Wouldn't it have been the most incredible thing to be childhood friends with Him? This song has such beautiful poetry, yet such real instances. It takes what, for some, is far out of reach, or so we think, and brings it into what we can understand. Jesus put on the skin of a human so He could reach out to us. He wanted to show us His love... how much He loves us.

"[He], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8)

He had everything, but He wanted to show us love, so He made Himself nothing... that is so humbling to me. And it makes me want even more to obey: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..." (Philippians 2:5) No, it doesn't mean I'm going to be called to die for someone as He died for us. But it does mean that I need to make every effort to put others above myself. To put the interests of others ahead of my own. To be humble, and to be patient. To love others as Jesus loves them. (John 13:34) "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35, ESV)